Homestar Runner: The Kids of Free Country USA
by ThomasAngryBirds
Summary: Homestar Runner reboot - A dangerous threat lurks within Free Country USA in the summer of 2010. This could affect the town's 150th anniversary, and when it gets worse, only one kid can save the day with his friends. Will Homestar Jr. do it, or are the town and celebrations doomed? And who is the mysterious villain Deep Claw? And what does he want to do with the town? Rated T
1. Preface

**After two and a half years of blood, sweat and toil almost wasted, I FINALLY get around to making a reboot of my Homestar Runner fan series! Not much more to say, so enjoy the first part of...**

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** Homestar Runner: The Kids of Free Country USA**

**Based on "Homestar Runner" by Mike and Matt Chapman (The Brothers Chaps)**

**Written by ThomasAngryBirds**

**Preface**

My name is Homestar Runner Junior. I'm fourteen years old, and I live in the town of Free Country USA.

You may wonder where it is, right? People have no idea, but me and my folks do; it's on a small island off the coast of Virginia. The town was founded way back in 1860, about a century and a half ago, months before the time of the Civil War. To avoid boring you, I won't go into details about its time in the war, but I will mention an ancestor of mine battled for the Union Army. Back then, my family lived in California, and had riches from the Gold Rush. They moved east in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

I bet you're saying, "if you live on the island, do you even have fame?" I don't, but my parents do.

Yes, I am the son to famous internet star Homestar Runner and his girlfriend/wife, Marzipan. I was born to them on January 17, 1996. "How are you their child if I never heard of you," you ask? My dad knows of two men called Mike and Matt Chapman, (they're brothers, you see) and he met them in Georgia in May 1996, weeks before the Olympics in said state.

Dad told the brothers about The Strongest Man in the World Contest he had with Pom-Pom and Strong Bad (more on them later) back in 1990, about six years before I was born. This became a book called _The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest_, and Mike and another man Craig Zobel wrote copies for their friends. (They also made a copy for my parents too.)

In a few years, they made some cartoons about dad and a few others, such as _Marshmallow's Last Stand_ and _Pom Pom, Too_. Eventually, they launched a website, homestarrunner dot com, in 2000, and within a few years, the website was a great success.

But, like the dinosaurs, success wouldn't last forever, and by 2009, updates became less frequent, and as of now in 2010, the website's popularity had declined. I feel pretty bad, but I can understand why; Matt had a second baby with his wife Jackie, and he's worked on other projects, so he hasn't the time to do voiceovers these days.

On the plus side, my parents have been able to look after me and my four sisters.

Oh, I haven't mentioned my friends and family, have I? How silly of me, haha.

Well, I'll start by telling you my family; Homestar Sr. and Marzipan are my parents (I told you that earlier), and I've four sisters, all younger than me, two sets of twins; Homezipan and Starzipan (both born 1998), and Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. (both born 2005). Homezipan's a sweet, innocent girl, Starzipan, not so much, let's put it that way. Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. (we often call her Marzy, and why I haven't a nickname, I'll never know) are the cutest girls we know.

Besides my parents and sisters, I have a bigger family than just them; there's my paternal grandfather (dad's dad) Jogstar Runner, my distant cousins Miley Homey, Preshy and Rafferdy (Miley has a different branch from Preshy and Rafferdy), another cousin Milestone "Miles" Winner, and his parents (on my dad's side) Homeschool Winner and Champeen. Plus, we have a pet walrus Dijjery-Doo.

I bet you're familiar with some of them right? That's right; uncle Homeschool, aunt Champeen, cousins Preshy and Rafferdy, and pet Dijjery-Doo are all rejected characters intended to appear, but never really did. Okay, a few cameos and a cartoon or two, but they don't appear at all. Other rejects are strange creatures called the Unguraits (we don't know anything about them, and to be frank, I'd rather not know), and some girl called the Hurricane. (I guess she was called that 'cause it's a load of fun at first, and then it all goes horribly wrong.)

Moving onto my friends; my best friend's Palm-Palm, son to Pom-Pom and one of his girlfriends, I think. (Pom-Pom's a family friend, in case you didn't notice.) They have a pet dog named Trivia Time, and yes, he's another reject character. There's two girls who didn't come from Free Country USA originally; Know-it-Ally has a Scottish heritage. Her father is Scottish born, and her mother is from America, making Ally half-Scottish. Violet Blue is pure French. Ally came to America in 2004, and Violet in 2005. Both girls are best friends.

Remember that I mentioned Strong Bad being one of dad's competitors in 1990? He too has family; he's the middle of the Brothers Strong. Strong Mad is older, and Strong Sad younger. They have a pet the Cheat. He came from an egg filled with fishsticks, at least, what I'm told. Back to Strong Bad; he has a son Star Bad with his girlfriend Baddette. On whole, the lot are alright in their own way, if not rough, bar Strong Sad; he's a nice guy, just given the wrong impression.

There's democracy in Free Country USA too. I mean, what is a country without it? Chaos, I presume. We have a King of Town "in charge" (I use the term loosely, of course), and they think he's unmarried, but in reality, he is, to (quite appropriately named) the Queen of Town. He's got a lot of employees; a cleric, a blacksmith, a hornblower, a knight, a little chef guy, and (dare I mention it) a Poopsmith. Why he has a Poopsmith, I'll never know.

There's more townsfolk; the local coach, Coach Z and his daughter Coach V, the local businessman Bubs, his son Buzz, and business partner Rosemary, an emo girl Forlornelle, three of dad's other competitors in 1990 Mr. Bland, Senor, and the Robot, a giant bee, a grape fairie, an umpire, a British announcer, two sad kids, and some creepy guy Strong Bad idolizes, Senor Cardgage.

I felt like saving the weirdest for last; Jack-Jack and Homsar. Jack-Jack is Homezipan's best friend (to Jack-Jack, at least) and a big joker. She loves pulling jokes on us, especially by throwing pies at our faces. (I wouldn't mind if they were apple, my favorite pie flavor, but it is really annoying to me I bet many others agree with me.) Homezipan's not stupid; she'd rather do chores than be involved in pranks (even if they seem innocent), but half of the time, Jack-Jack manages to fool her into having fun. Usually, I jump in at the last moment. As for Homsar, he's my dad's other brother, and I have no idea what he says, never mind what he's like. I don't talk about him very often; he's almost like the black sheep of our family, like Strong Sad's the white sheep of the Brothers Strong.

We don't always get along, but we're all friends nonetheless. I remember the summer of 2010 when our town celebrated its 150th anniversary, and it nearly went horribly wrong because of a man who attempted to destroy our homely town.

How do I know of this? To understand where I'm coming from, I should start from the very beginning…

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**This chapter is a build up so when later chapters come, you'll get to understand and know the characters from day one. All fan characters are made by myself, and two friends from DeviantArt; Blake Hawkins and Danni Millerei. Expect the real first chapter soon. No, it will NOT be told in Homestar Jr.'s POV, it'll be in third person narration.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Start of Summer

**At last, I get my FL Homestar Runner fanfic moving! The preface is pretty much an introduction to the characters.**

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**Chapter 1: The Start of Summer**

June 14, 2010. The school year had come to a close, and all the students of Free Country USA were home for the summer. At the yellow tiled house with a red roof, Marzipan Runner was at her gazebo. She had her blond hair into her favorite hairstyle, a ponytail. She wore her favorite dress; purple embellished with white trim and yellow-gold buttons, and a matching hair band.

In Marzipan's arms (or lack-thereof) was a red nylon-string classical (Spanish) guitar. It had a black snake on it, a yellow sun as its rosette surrounding the sound hole, and the word "Carol" in yellow. She was playing music with Carol.

"_La, la, la, la, la.__  
__Flip flops and ice cream, __  
__Waterfalls and candy canes, __  
__Sugar drinks and mayonnaise, __  
__Summertime is here…_"

Her song was interrupted by the sound of two young girls arguing upstairs.

"Gimme back my doww!" cried one.

"You want it? Come get it!" teased the other.

Marzipan sighed and put down Carol. She heard this many times before from her two older daughters. She walked up to the side of the house and called out to the girls.

"Starzipan!" she said sternly, "What are you and Homezipan doing up there?!"

Homezipan had blond hair like her mother, except she had a full head of hair along with a ponytail. She had white skin, no arms, average-length legs with red soles on the bottom, a pink dress with the same white trims and yellow-gold buttons like Marzipan, and had a yellow flower on her dress. Starzipan looked like her twin, except her dress was violet-red and had no flower, and she had blue soles. Both girls were eleven-going-on-twelve, and were looking out of the window. Their mother didn't look very happy.

"Starzipan, why do you have your sister's favorite doll, by any chance?"

"I just wanted to borrow it," Starzipan lied.

"Every time I catch you doing this, you always say it," Marzipan sighed, shaking her head, "Homezipan, will you tell me?"

"Stawzipan thought I was siwwy pwaying with dowws," moaned Homezipan.

"Starzipan," her mother said sternly, "give your sister her doll back; you know it's hers."

Starzipan reluctantly gave in, and handed it back to Homezipan in a rude way, and walked away sulking. "I never have fun anymore…"

"Thank you…" Homezipan called back, annoyed at her twin's attitude, then turned back to Marzipan, "Sowwy fow what happened, mom."

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you," said Marzipan kindly, "it's Starzipan that worries me; if she doesn't shape up soon, I may have to send her away."

"I'd hate to think of whewe she couwd be," said Homezipan in a shaky tone; she knew where children who misbehave go to. "Oh, and mom, why aw you pwaying with Cawol?"

"Guess who's been chosen to play a song for our town's one hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebrations?" Marzipan smiled.

"Yowu?"

"Yes! I'm writing a few tunes to play with Strong Mad and The Cheat when the day comes," said Marzipan, "and it's on the 24th of July too."

"Wow, it sounds gweat, mom!" smiled Homezipan, "Any wuck?"

"Not much, but I'll write something good if an idea comes up." And with that, Marzipan went back to what she was doing.

* * *

Not far away from the Runner Residence, young Homestar Jr. was with an easel and canvas. He looked like his younger sisters, except he had short brown hair and no ponytail, and red soles like Homezipan. He had a blue shirt with a big white star and brown shorts. He wore a blue baseball cap with a red shade and white propeller on top of his head.

Homestar Jr. was making a painting of still life. He was a talented young boy at fourteen, having gotten most of them from Marzipan.

"Ah, it's always so peaceful outside the house," he said to himself, painting a bird's-eye-view of the town, "nothing to bother you for feet around, a chance to wonder about the mysteries of the world today… and I am finished!"

Homestar Jr. stood up and looked at his finished painting. He was entering a small artwork contest for the celebrations, and painted a view of the town as his entry. It didn't matter to the young boy if he won or lost; he just entered for the fun of it.

"A complete view of the town might not be a winner," Homestar Jr. told himself, "but it's sure to impress the judges." He packed up his art supplies and walked back to the house.

* * *

The living room wasn't anything special; red carpet, each wall was light blue or pale yellow, orange window curtains were hung, and there was a blue couch in the middle with a TV in front of it. Above the couch was a painting saying "Thank you", and on one yellow wall was "COOL TAPES" painted in black, which inspired Marzipan's band. There was also a mirror on a blue wall, and two doors; one for a closet, the other leading into the kitchen.

Homezipan lay on the couch watching cartoons, just as Homestar Jr. walked in the front door, still clutching his painting and art supplies he walked in the house, just as Starzipan came darting out of the kitchen.

"Wook out!" cried Homezipan. Homestar Jr. got out of the way in time just as Starzipan ran out the front door.

"Watch where you're going!" Homestar Jr. shouted as Starzipan ran off. But the silly girl didn't hear him.

"That girl's crazy," Homestar Jr. muttered to himself. Then he turned to Homezipan. "Hey, Homezy," he said, "I've just finished my painting. Wanna hang out with our friends? It is summer after all."

"Just a few minutes, then I'll be weady to go," said Homezipan.

"All right then," said Homestar Jr., "I'll just put away my art supplies."

Homestar Jr. closed the front door behind him, and then walked through the kitchen and upstairs to his bedroom.

* * *

The second floor had a bathroom with a bathtub and shower, and three bedrooms. One was for Homestar and Marzipan, the second for Homezipan, Starzipan, Marzistar and Marzipan Jr., and the third for Homestar Jr.

Homestar Jr.'s bedroom had red and blue walls, a bed with blue mattress and red blankets and pillow, a closet, and a drawer. It also had a small model railway which was once an oval layout. Homestar Jr. had gotten the layout for his twelfth birthday two years ago, and liked it very much. Over the last couple of years, he had gotten some extra track, scenery and rolling stock to the layout built to his satisfaction.

Homestar Jr.'s room wasn't very big, but it was just the right size for him. Above his model railway was a plain black laptop with a mouse and charger, which he got for Decemberween last year. The boy himself entered his room, set down his canvas next to the model railway, and put his art supplies where they belonged. Then he took the canvas and set it next to drawer, where it would be safe and secure for the next several weeks.

* * *

Homestar Jr. came downstairs once again and walked into the living room just as Homezipan turned off the TV.

"Pewfect timing," said Homezipan, "wet's go!"

"I just told mother what we were doing," Homestar Jr. confirmed, "she knows us, Homezipan."

Homezipan smiled at her big brother and the two siblings walked out the front door. They could see a man talking with a real estate broker.

"Someone must've bought the house next to us," remarked Homestar Jr.

"Maybe we couwd have a wook?" asked Homezipan.

"Not yet," said Homestar Jr., "it's best to let time run its course." Homezipan quietly agreed, and the two kids walked on past the house.

* * *

Palm-Palm and Milestone were by the brick wall. Palm-Palm had a small, round white body with an orange head, no mouth, black beady eyes, and short arms and legs, all orange. He also had an orange stripe around his body. Milestone was similar to Homestar Jr. and Homezipan, but he was tall and thin, with blue soles, a red shirt with a white comma, green shorts, an overbite, and short ginger hair.

"What's happening?" asked Palm-Palm, noticing Homestar Jr. and Homezipan walk up.

"Nothing much," said Homestar Jr., "wanna go to the Starcade?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" said Milestone, "I haven't anything better to do."

* * *

The Starcade is the local amusement arcade area in Free Country USA. It's most popular games included _TROGDOR_, _Strong Bad Zone_, _Secret Collect_, and _Strong Bad's Rhino Feeder_.

Homestar Jr., Homezipan, Palm-Palm, and Milestone had gotten into the Starcade and made their way to the games.

"Oh, _mon dieu!_ The puck's gone past me again!"

"Aye, and it's five for two now!"

Homestar Jr. recognized those two voices. The first girl, Violet Blue, was age fourteen with short blue hair, light blue skin, a pink bow, a blue flower pattern around her neck, a blue and pink French maid dress, white gloves, and pink shoes. The other girl, Know-it-Ally, was fifteen with a green shirt, a pink necktie, a red Scottish skirt, pinkish skin, dark pink hair, a pink beret with a blue rim, white gloves, large glasses, and green shoes.

"Still struggling to beat Ally, I can see," said Homestar Jr. to the French girl.

"_Oui_, it's the third time I've lost to _moi_ best friend in air hockey," sighed Violet Blue.

"Aye, and I'm darn good at it too," Know-it-Ally smirked.

"Soon you'd be crashing and burning when someone shows you up," muttered Palm-Palm. Milestone and Homezipan snickered quietly at their small friend's snaky comments.

"Och, speak fer yerselves!" scolded Ally, "It's better than being with a ginger geek who can't pay attention to where he goes!"

"Ginger geek yourself," retorted Milestone.

"Are ye suggestin'-?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" protested Milestone, "I'm not suggesting anything, honest!"

"Course ye weren't," said Ally sarcastically.

"Sorry about her," said Violet Blue kindly, "I know Ally doesn't always mean what she says; I think she's a nice sort."

"I can hear ye, ya know!"

"C'mon, guys; let's see what games are available to play," said Homestar Jr., and he and his three friends followed him.

"Ya know," said Violet Blue, "they're a really nice lot, those four. That Palm-Palm's pretty cute, and I think-"

Ally scoffed indignantly. "I don't understand those three," she said, "Homestar Jr.'s all right, but the others are just odd in their own way."

Speaking of the quartet, Ally's comment did have some truth in it; Palm-Palm's height was barely up to Homestar Jr.'s knee, Homezipan was a bit cowardly, and Milestone was prone to bad luck. The three had overheard Ally and felt a little hurt.

"Never mind," said Homestar Jr., "she'll warm up to us eventually. You'll see."

"You're right," said Palm-Palm, "we're here to have fun, after all."

"Hey everyone!" a voice cried out from behind them.

The foursome jumped in shock. Hugging Homezipan tightly was a thirteen year old girl. She had light blue skin, light blue hair in pigtails with pink hair braids, and a blue jester costume with pink lining, a white neck collar, and on her costume was a yellow star with pink lining.

"Uh… hewwo, Jack… Jack," Homezipan gagged. Jack-Jack was hugging her much too tightly.

"It's great seeing my best friend today!" smiled Jack-Jack.

"Yes, thank… you, now… couwd you… pwease… wet me go?!" gasped Homezipan.

"Why didn't ya say so?!"

Jack-Jack let go and Homezipan nearly fell to the floor, coughing and catching her breath back.

"Next time, Jack-Jack," sighed Milestone, "could you _please_ alert us _before_ you go jumping up on Homezipan, hugging her to death?"

"Oh, okay," said Jack-Jack, "it's just Homezipan's-"

"-your best friend," groaned Homestar Jr., Milestone and Palm-Palm.

"We get it," added Palm-Palm.

"Outta my way, losers," snapped another voice.

Homestar Jr. and Milestone gasped as a fifteen year old boy shoved past them. He was tan skinned, short and stout, had red hair, a black mask with a gray V and blue diamond, beady green eyes, a yellow bandana, a white gym shirt, blue jeans, red boots with white soles, and black boxing gloves with red wrists.

"I've got lots of prizes I won today," the boy bragged to the others.

"Oh, gweat, Staw Bad's hewe too," muttered Homezipan.

"Yeah, you guessed it, pink shrimp," said Star Bad rudely, "my parents, pet and uncle Strong Mad will be pleased with me, considering all prizes I managed to win today!"

"Hey, Star Bad, it's nice and all," said Homestar Jr., calmly but sternly, "but we haven't time for your foolishness. Now please kindly don't bother us with your so-called wins."

Out of the kid population in Free Country USA, Homestar Jr. was one of few who would stand up to Star Bad and not be afraid of him. Other kids admired him for it.

Star Bad stared for a few seconds before conceding defeat. "Fine," he muttered, "go and have it your way." He walked off sulkily, but not without tripping over Violet Blue on purpose.

"_Hé, vous fils stupide d'un wrestle homme avec un ego la taille de sa tête!_" Violet Blue cursed at Star Bad. He didn't know a word of French, not realizing that the French girl had called him a "stupid son of a wrestleman with an ego the size of his head!"

Star Bad laughed off Violet Blue's French comment and left the Starcade for home.

"Big jerk," said Ally, scowling in Star Bad's direction, "does he have any thoughts for others besides himself?"

"It's who he is, and we can't change it," said Homestar Jr. wisely, "now just try and have fun together, shall we?"

The others agreed and they did too.

* * *

Later in the late afternoon, Homestar Jr. and Homezipan were walking home. The latter had a pink stuffed bunny, and the former had a new music player called a StarPod in blue.

"That was fuwn today, was it?" asked Homezipan.

"If you ignore our run in with Star Bad, Jack-Jack's friend attack, and Ally's comments," said Homestar Jr. thoughtfully, "then yes, today was fun. I wouldn't mind if anyone downloaded music for my StarPod; it'd probably make me fun at parties."

"Even if you didn't wike some sowngs or musicians?"

"Oh, yes." Homestar Jr. paused, then he looked over to the house next door to theirs; there was the same man they saw earlier, but he was moving stuff into the house, and with him were two girls, both brunettes with the same hairstyle.

"Come on, girls," said the man, "those boxes won't move themselves!"

"Yes, father," sighed one girl.

"Anything for you, father," said the other girl.

"Why down't we intwoduwce ouwsewves?" suggested Homezipan.

"Not now," said Homestar Jr., "we hardly know these people. Maybe they'll hold a welcome party in a week or two."

"Aw wight then," said Homezipan, "I howpe they'we nice fowks."

"Well, you never know," said Homestar Jr.

* * *

Homestar Jr., Homezipan and Starzipan were at the dinner table with Marzipan, and their father and younger sisters. The father, Homestar Runner Sr., looked like his son, except the red and blue were reversed, and he had no hair or pants.

Marzistar was a hybrid of her parents; her head was round, she had her father's eyes and mother's mouth, short blond hair in a ponytail, a purple hair braid, blue soles, a purple shirt with a white star in the middle, and a blue skirt.

Marzipan "Marzy" Jr. looked like her mother, but her dress was red and blue, her hair braid red, had a blue bow, and was a brunette. Tonight's dinner was salad with tomatoes, croutons, and dressing. Their drink was tea.

"Hey, mom," said Homezipan, "have you noticed we'w getting new neighbows?"

"Hmph, new neighbors are a nuisance," grumbled Starzipan, "they get a lot of attention and are just arrogant around everyone else."

"You don't even know them yet," said Homestar Jr., "they could be pleasant folks after all."

"So you say," muttered Starzipan.

"Starzipan," Marzipan scolded firmly, "you know your brother and sister are enlisted to an opinion as you are. And I will not tolerate that attitude at the dinner table. Understood?"

"Yes, mom," sighed Starzipan.

"Did you meet new neighbows today, mommy?" asked Marzipan Jr.

"Are they nice?" asked Marzistar.

"Homestar and I haven't met them yet," said their mother, "but I think I can recognize the man; Darren Crawford. I can see he's got two daughters."

"He's not with ouw kids, is he?" asked Homestar in a clueless manner. He wasn't the brightest bulb on a Decemberween tree.

"No, Homestar," laughed Marzipan, "I mean Darren has _his_ own daughters. _We_ have four daughters."

"Ohh… wite, wite," said Homestar.

"Who's this Dawwen Cwawfowd?" asked Homezipan with curiousity.

Marzipan looked a little anxious at first, and then quickly changed her tone. "Erm, he's just an old friend of mine, is all," she said dismissively, "so how was your day today?" she added, hoping to change subject.

"Oh, it went pretty good," said Homestar Jr., "I did get a StarPod from winning _How High Can You Stack?_"

"That's great to hear," smiled Marzipan, "and Homezipan got a bunny from the claw game, I see."

"That I did," said Homezipan, "I think it'd be nice to add it to mine and my baby sistews' stuffed animaw cowwection."

"Thanks, big sis," said Marzistar.

"You'we the best," said Marzipan Jr. Starzipan looked away and "harrumphed" quietly to herself.

* * *

**So that's the first chapter done away with. And who are these new neighbors? Well, you'll have to wait and see for the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 2: Meet the Crawfords

**Here, we're introduced to the new neighbors in Free Country USA. It's a little shorter than last chapter, and the first section came from the first chapter, transferred to make them equal length as much as I could.**

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**Chapter 2: Meet the Crawfords**

Later that night, the family went to bed. They go to sleep by nine in the evening, as Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. were very young at the age of five.

After Homestar Jr. gotten his glass of water, before going to bed, he looked out of his bedroom window and saw one of the girls he and Homezipan saw earlier. Her brown hair was long, had yellow hair braids in them, and covering her black beady eyes were an oversized pair of glasses. She also wore a yellow nightgown.

Homestar Jr. saw that the girl looked sad about something. He didn't ask her why that was; he didn't know her, she didn't know him either.

The girl looked down from her bedroom window and sighed. "How I wish mom and Monocle could see me now," she said to herself, "stuck with an abusive father and bullying twin sister…"

"Must be tough for you, miss," said Homestar Jr., before turning away. The mysterious girl heard him.

"Who said that?" she asked. But no one answered. She smacked her forehead and then turned away. "Ah, Shelley Hordern, you're just hearing things again…"

Homestar Jr. turned off the lights in his bedroom and lay in bed. He overheard the girl say her name.

_Shelley Hordern? Is that her name?_ he thought to himself. Many thoughts came into Homestar Jr.'s head that night…

_New neighbors… man with two daughters… Darren Crawford… old friend to my mother… abusive father… sad girl named Shelley Hordern… bullying twin sister… missing her mother… and Monocle? Who IS this Monocle she's referring to?_

Homestar Jr.'s eyes shot open. Slowly, he started to put two and two together.

_Darren Crawford has two daughters,_ he thought, _one of them is Shelley Hordern, and the other whose name I don't know must be a bully to her. Crawford must be a widow, and Shelley says he is abusive, yet he was an old friend to mother. Why did mother seem anxious when Homezipan asked about him? What is there to know what I don't?_

Homestar Jr. breathed quietly. "I'll find out soon enough," he said to himself, "I need my sleep anyway." And he closed his eyes again, unaware of what the next few weeks were going to bring for him and his friends and family.

* * *

Days passed. June turned into July, Homezipan and Starzipan were now both twelve years of age, their birthday on June 24. Not much had gone on in the house next door to the Runners; every day, about four to six boxes were brought into the house. Homestar Jr. found this very suspicious.

"Why do our neighbors need so much stuff?" he asked Palm-Palm and Milestone one day, "Surely this house is too small for a lot of stuff, right?"

"Yeah, it is really odd," said Palm-Palm, "who needs all that junk?"

"That guy and his girls must've come from a wealthy family," suggested Milestone.

"You're really obsessed with those newbies, aren't ya?" a gruff voice answered.

Behind them, Strong Bad had overheard them. With him were Star Bad, Strong Mad, The Cheat, and a woman about Strong Bad's age. She had red hair in pigtails, yellow hair braids, a blue gym shirt, a black bandana, small beady eyes, a yellow belt, blue pants, and red boots with yellow soles.

"You think those newbies are anything special?" mocked Star Bad.

"It's not that," said Homestar Jr., "it's just- have you noticed anything suspicious about the new neighbors?"

_How suspicious can it be, dorks?_ The Cheat didn't speak English; instead, he spoke in high-pitched squeaks and growls, a language known as "The Cheat". Oddly, everyone in town knew what he was saying. Not many know this, but he can impersonate others speaking English remarkably well for a… whatever The Cheat was.

"For the past three weeks, about as many as six boxes arrive at the house," said Milestone.

"Ha! You kids find it suspicious?!" snapped the woman, "It must be big on the inside!"

"Appearances can be deceiving," said Homestar Jr., "besides, we don't even know these people… just yet."

"**IS THEIR REFRIGERATOR RUNNING?**" bellowed Strong Mad, who spoke in an uninflected roar.

"Easy, big guy," said Strong Bad, "let's just leave them to their nosy business, what do ya say, huh?"

"I suppose so, Badster," said the woman, "what say we smash mailboxes or deface bushes?"

"That gets me in a fightin' mood, Baddette!" Strong Bad grinning, then he, The Cheat, Strong Mad, Star Bad and Baddette walked away, but not without Star Bad making a rude face at the trio.

"If they even smash our mailbox, mother's gonna be cheesed," said Homestar Jr. He could see the troublesome quartet about to smash up Marzipan's mailbox.

"Three, two, one…" the trio silently counted.

"Just what are you doing to my property?!"

The five jumped and looked up; Marzipan had seen what they were going to do to her mailbox and wasn't pleased.

"Ah, er, we're just having a little joke, Mrs. Runner," Star Bad grinned innocently.

"Yeah just, er, spreading some happiness," added Baddette, faking a smile.

"You've got exactly ten seconds to step away from my mailbox." That made the five run for it.

Marzipan shook her head. "Sometimes, I just don't understand Strong Mad and The Cheat," she said, "one day, they're friendly with me, playing as Cool Tapes, and the next, they cause havoc with Strong Bad, his girlfriend and son. I swear those two have a split personality of sorts…"

"I know how it feels, mother," said Homestar Jr., "they're an alright lot on whole, if not temperamental."

"Not Strong Sad," Milestone pointed out, "I feel sorry for him; he puts up with them every day for a pounding, yet somehow survives."

"You notice how odd it is that many boxes are entering our new neighbors' house, Mrs. Runner?" Palm-Palm asked.

"It is," said Marzipan, looking out with a puzzled look on her face, "surely it's not that big inside a small house? Why does Darren need all that stuff?"

"Darren who?" asked Milestone and Palm-Palm.

Marzipan realized what she said. "Er… I'd rather not talk about it," she said, and quickly closed the window.

"What's with her?" asked Milestone. Homestar Jr. hummed an "I don't know."

* * *

Inside the bedroom, Marzipan had been mulling over what she said.

_I hope it isn't the Darren Crawford from my past,_ she thought to herself, _maybe Darren's just become a popular name nowadays, as is the last name Crawford. Eh, I shouldn't worry too much._

"Mawzipan?"

"Ah!" Marzipan looked toward the bedroom door; Homestar had come in and she didn't hear him.

"Oh, Homestar! Don't scare me like that."

"Sowwy, Mawzipan. I was coming to get my… oh, what was it again?"

"Your hat?"

"My hat?" Homestar looked in a mirror. "Oh! I fowgot my hat." He saw it on a small table near the door, and put it on his head.

"Thanks, bwoomstick, now I can see myself a tewwific athwete!" said Homestar as he absent-mindedly left the room. Marzipan sighed in annoyance; she didn't like when people called her a broomstick, especially not Homestar. Yet, she put up with it as best as she could.

* * *

The next day, some of the townsfolk were at the new neighbors' home. The new owner, Darren Crawford, greeted them warmly. He had tan skin, medium length black hair, a red office shirt, a green necktie, blue pants, black shoes, black beady eyes, and his most distinctive feature was his long nose.

Amongst the townsfolk were the Runners, Milestone, his parents Homeschool and Champeen, Strong Bad, Strong Mad, their brother Strong Sad, The Cheat, Baddette, Star Bad, Palm-Palm and his dad Pom-Pom, Coach Z and his daughter Coach V, Bubs and his son Buzz, Dijjery-Doo, and Trivia Time.

Coach V looked like her father, but had a pink jumpsuit, a blue head, black eyes with eyelashes, wore a red and white baseball cap, had a bronze V emblem around her waist, and had long flowing green hair. Unlike her dad, Coach V didn't have "more than two prablems."

Buzz, like Coach V, looked like his dad, only his left eye had a green iris, he had a green torso, black legs, a yellow belt, a large green letter B on his torso, and a black Mohawk haircut.

Both Buzz and Coach V were boyfriend and girlfriend, at the ripe age of seventeen, and had one more year at Free Country Academy, before both would get a scholarship at Crazy Go Nuts University.

"Just one more year, and we're out of our homes," said Coach V, "and maybe after that, we'll be gettin' married!"

"Yeah, only if my dad allows it," said Buzz, "somehow, he don't trust you."

"Oh, he's just a worry-wart, I bet," Coach V giggled.

"May I have your attention please?" called a voice.

"Must be the new neighbor," said Buzz, "what's he got to say?" He and Coach V joined their respective fathers and listened to the man's speech like everyone else.

"Hello, to one and all," Crawford said in a moderate British accent, "I just want to say it is an honor to be in your town. From what I hear, the people are nice and friendly, and that it's a lovely place to be, and I'm glad to be here."

This was followed by some applause, and then Crawford continued.

"I should introduce you to me step-daughters," he said, before summoning two girls. Homestar Jr. instantly recognized the girl the glasses. She had a yellow dress that stopped at her knees with short sleeves, white trimmings on her dress, and red shoes. The other girl looked like her sister, but had shorter and darker hair, had no glasses, and a blue-purple dress stopping at her knees with black trimmings, sleeves stopping at the elbows, and black shoes. Something seemed odd about the other girl, but Homestar Jr. couldn't put his foot on it.

"That's Shelley Hordern," said Crawford, putting his hand on the girl in the yellow dress, "and here is Brenna," he added, putting his other hand on the girl in purple.

Brenna gave a more confident smile which almost looked like a smirk, while Shelley's smile was shyer, but nonetheless friendly.

"H-h-hello," said Shelley in a shy way.

"It's lovely to be here," said Brenna.

* * *

As the party went on, Homestar Jr. decided to introduce himself to one of the new girls.

"Hello there," he said politely to Shelley, "I'm Homestar Jr. You're Shelley, I presume."

"Yep, that's me," said the yellow girl, "but many people actually call me Specs."

"Specs, eh?"

"It's mostly because of the glasses I got at very young age," the girl explained, "I've got very bad eyesight, you know."

"Sorry to hear it, Specs," said Homestar Jr., "but it's nice to meet you." He would've shaken Specs' hand, if he had any. "Sorry I can't shake your hand; I don't have arms, as you can see, yet I'm able to manipulate objects. It's kind of a family thing."

"I see," said Specs. Then Homezipan walked up.

"Hey, big bwothew," she said, "who's this?"

"That's Specs," said Homestar Jr.

Homezipan was puzzled. "I thought Mistew Cwawfowd had two dawthews Shewwey and Bwenna," she said.

Specs gave a slight giggle. "I _am_ Shelley," she said, "but many people call me Specs instead."

"Becawse of youw gwasses?" asked Homezipan.

"Good guess," said Homestar Jr., "that's my sister, Homezipan," he told Specs, "she's younger than me, and has trouble with her R's."

"Are you his only sister?" asked Specs.

"Thewe's thwee othews," said Homezipan, "my twin Stawzipan, and the little twins Mawzistaw and Mawzipan Jr."

"You're the only boy in your family?" Specs asked Homestar Jr.

"The only son, yes," said Homestar Jr., "there's my dad, uncle Homeschool, and my cousin Milestone. Speak of the devil, there he comes now."

"Hey Star," said Milestone, "is that Shelley?"

"Yes, but call me Specs if you like."

"Is it because-" Palm-Palm began.

"Of her glasses, yes," Homestar Jr. and Homezipan finished. (Homezipan said "of hew gwasses, yes.")

"Figures," Palm-Palm shrugged, "anyway, I'm Palm-Palm, and that's-"

"Milestone," finished Specs.

"Are you a mind reader?" asked Milestone in surprise.

"Uh, no; your cousin told me about you."

"Oh yeah."

* * *

"Hey Stwong Bad," said Homestar to the Mexican wrestleman, "isn't this a gweat pawty?"

"Not with your lumbering idiocy hanging around, it isn't," Strong Bad snapped rudely.

"Gwad you agwee," said Homestar, unaware of his "friend's" rudeness, and that he ran into Mr. Crawford.

"Look out! You almost spilled my drink!" the new guy in town called out.

"Oh, sowwy," said Homestar.

"Hey, you're Homestar Runner, aren't you?"

"Have we met somewhewe befowe?"

"You remember at CGNU, we were in literature with Marzipan…"

"Oh! Wite, wite," said Homestar, "I wemembew now, don't we, my wittle pwide and joy?"

"Huh?" Marzipan had been talking with Strong Sad and Pom-Pom and looked over to the black-haired man. "Oh! Darren! It's been years, hasn't it?"

"Ah Marzipan!" exclaimed Mr. Crawford, "Last time I saw you, you and Homestar were still in a relationship."

"We are, actually," said Marzipan, "he and I married back in 1994."

"Ah, I see," said Mr. Crawford.

_You're not hurt about it, are you?_ asked Pom-Pom. Instead of speaking English, Pom-Pom spoke like someone was blowing bubbles through a straw in their milk.

"Oh, no! I'm happy for her and Homestar, actually. Wish you could say the same for myself. The wife died when my daughters were little."

"Oh, that's sad," said Strong Sad, frowning as he usually did.

"It's tough," agreed Mr. Crawford, "but one's gotta look after their children when one parent's died."

"Hey, you're all right," said Strong Bad, "we should have Cold Ones some time. They're our town's most popular brand of beer."

"Eh, probably," said Mr. Crawford, "but I'm not that fond of drinking myself. It causes trouble for the public and the police."

"Ah, they're non-alcoholic… at least what I hear," said Strong Bad.

"Suppose it wouldn't hurt to try one," Mr. Crawford shrugged.

* * *

After the party had finished, Mr. Crawford and his two daughters went off to clean up. Some townsfolk offered to clean up, but he said, "No, no, don't bother; it's nice of you to offer, but it's family business and all." They understood and went off for home.

"Right, girls," said Mr. Crawford, "we've had quite a day today, and we must get our rest. Brenna, come with me."

"As you wish, father," the purple girl responded.

"Can I get some help?" asked Specs.

"We will," said Brenna, "you'll have to handle by yourself."

"I guess," Specs sighed, and no sooner did Mr. Crawford and Brenna enter the house, Homestar Jr. looked over to Specs and felt pity.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked.

"I already got two hands, and you don't have any," Specs joked, and the two chuckled. "But seriously, yes I would like some help; you're very kind."

"Thank you," said Homestar Jr., and as he picked up some used cups, he felt a hint of red on his cheeks. _That was very sweet of her,_ he thought to himself, _she seems like a nice girl._

* * *

Inside the Runners' house, Starzipan was in the living room by herself, lying on the couch.

"I'm bored!" she whinged to no one in particular. For no reason, she stood up and walked outside the house. She saw Homestar Jr. helping Specs clean up.

"They must be having fun," she muttered. With no one looking, Starzipan walked around the Crawford-Hordern residence and overheard two voices.

"They're all fooled, father," one said, "they'll have no idea what to expect."

"There's my girl," said the other, "that weakling sister of yours can't stand up for herself, and we might need a mole to make her look bad."

Starzipan looked through the window, making sure she wasn't seen herself. She was in time to see a change in Brenna's face. Her mouth transformed; it got bigger and revealed sharp teeth, giving her a scary appearance.

"So…" said Brenna, "where do we begin?"

Starzipan looked away and crouched down, just as Crawford explained his plan. She smirked quietly to herself.

"Maybe I _can_ have fun after all," she said quietly.

* * *

**What do Crawford and Brenna have in store for Free Country USA? What is Specs' mysterious past? What is Starzipan up to? These questions and many more will be answered in due time. Until then, R&R!**


	4. Chapter 3: New Surroundings & Evil Plans

**Well, that was quick. Chapter three sets things up.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: New Surroundings and Evil Plans**

The next morning, Specs was asleep in her bedroom. It wasn't anything special; it was about seven foot by eleven foot. In it was a six-foot long bed with yellow bedsheets and a white pillow, light orange walls, red curtains, a drawer next to the bed with an alarm clock, three shelves (the first two filled with books and the third half filled), and a small two foot closet.

She was still having a peaceful sleep when…

"Good morning, Specs!"

"Wah! OW!"

Specs awoke with a start and had hit her head on a shelf, unwisely placed above her bed. Rubbing her head, the brunette picked up her glasses that had been sitting on her drawer.

"Agh, whoever it is that woke me up," she muttered, "I'll give that person a good talking to!"

She stood up, and walked up to the window, drew back the curtains, and saw…

"Homestar Jr.?"

"Hi there, Specs," said the armless fourteen-year-old.

"Oh, gosh, you gave me quite a scare and woke me up," exclaimed Specs.

"Sorry about that."

"You're up early this morning."

"It's a habit of mine," Homestar Jr. explained, "I get up around 6:30 to 7:00, have breakfast, and do my stretches. When it isn't summer on weekdays, I get to school by 8:30."

"Where do you attend school?"

"Free Country Academy."

"Far out!" exclaimed Specs, "I'm getting a scholarship at FCA as well, and I start in August. Looks like we'll see each other a lot when school starts again."

"I guess so." Homestar Jr. paused for a moment, then remembered what he wanted to say. "Say, d'you want me to show you around our town?"

Specs blinked before speaking up again. "You… would show me around?"

"Sure, I mean, it would be impolite of me if I didn't."

Specs smiled. "That's be great!" she said, "Once I'm dressed and fed, I'm ready to go."

* * *

Homestar Jr. first told his parents what he was up to, and they approved. (Well, Marzipan approved, but Homestar had no idea what was happening, so Marzipan suggested that their son take it as a "yes.")

Crawford allowed Specs to spend time with her new friend too, and when the shy but optimistic girl left, he scowled out a window, facing nothing but open field.

"That boy," Crawford sneered, "why he's son to that idiot cartoon star, Homestar Runner, and that stupid hippie girlfriend of his Marzipan! She was my one chance at love, and he idiot stole her from me! What does _he_ have that _I_ don't?!"

"You'd like to kill his father, don't you?" asked Brenna, "How about we kill the _entire_ family as well?"

Crawford looked at his partially mutant daughter and gave an evil smirk.

"A brilliant plan! Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

"What would it do with the 150th anniversary of the town?"

"Hmm, a good point there. We'll make sure the whole town celebration starts off with a bang, literally! Call in the boys! We'll have a meeting in the basement lair!"

"Okay, so where do we begin?"

* * *

"Here we are at the field," said Homestar Jr., "just a plain, grassy… well, field. Over there is the stick, and a brick wall."

"Er, excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Why do you call it _the_ stick, when you could've said _a_ stick?"

"We call it the stick since he's a typical meeting point to many."

"Oh, I see." Specs turned around and saw a photo booth a distance away from the stick. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, that's the Snap Shak," said Homestar Jr., "it's bigger on the inside that it appears to be on the outside."

"Really?" asked Specs.

"Sure, something like that. Why don't ya have a look?"

Specs went towards the Snap Shak, walked through the curtains, and then came back after a couple of minutes.

"You weren't kidding; it _is_ bigger on the inside!"

"Glad you liked it," Homestar Jr. smiled, then he motioned over to a somewhat run-down car, "that's a 1973 AMC Gremlin. It hasn't run for who-knows how many years."

"Why would a bad car like a Gremlin be stuck in a field like that?" asked Specs, "Who even owns it?"

"Nobody owns it," said Homestar Jr., "but I think its here as a monument or something. So… on with the tour then."

He and Specs walked over to a small blue whale on a gray pole with a spout coming out of it.

"_If you are dissatisfied with our service, please accept our invitation to bite me._"

"Excuse me?!"

"Uh, that wasn't me, Specs, honestly. It was that whale with a mind of its own."

Specs turned to the Drive-Thru Whale. "Uh, would you care to explain why you said that to me?" she asked.

"_Sever your leg, please. It's the greatest day._"

"Sever my leg?" asked Specs, "That sounds horrible!"

"C'mon, Specs," sighed Homestar Jr., "let's not argue with it. Just ain't worth it."

Specs agreed, and both walked away leaving the whale to utter random phrases.

* * *

"Good morning, men! I bet you can guess why I've called you all here."

Seven men stood at attention in Crawford's basement. One had a blue torso, red feet and hands, a green head, one blue eye that was wide open with a black pupil in the center, his other eye was a horizontal line, and he had a purple top hat on his head. A shocking note was that he didn't have arms, legs, or a neck, yet visible hands and feet. The big man next to him had yellow skin, large, bulging muscles, blue shoes, a brown jumpsuit with SM on it in red, short black hair, his right eye was red around the edges, and an angry look on his face.

A third henchman had legs where his arms would be and vice-verse, brown shoe hands, orange hand feet, brown pants, a blue turtleneck shirt, a white head, closed eyes, and an orange flatcap. The fourth had a green torso, blue hands, feet and head, and unlike the first henchman, had very skinny arms, legs and neck. The fifth henchman had yellow skin, a green tank top, blue pants, red shoes, a black mullet, the letter B on his top in black, large eyes and a big mouth.

The next minion was a female with a short, stumpy light brown torso, short green arms, a blue head, no mouth, blue beady eyes, and a flick of red hair. The last minion didn't look human; he looked like a giant brownish-orange spider with four legs, three claws on each hand, red spots on the elbows, his left eye bigger than his right, sharp white fangs, and a tuff of green hair.

"Mad Hatt!"

The first minion replied with psychotic laughter, making the top half of his head seem to float in the air.

"Steel Man!"

The second minion barred his teeth, which were made of steel unlike normal teeth, and flexed his muscles. "Steel Man prepared to crush little men!" he growled in a Russian accent.

"Shov!"

"Ready and raring to fight!" the third minion replied with a Chinese accent.

"Stringier!"

The fourth minion wrapped his limbs around his torso. "Ready to tangle my foes!"

"Bubba!"

"Ohh! When I take down weak boys, the girls'll fawn over me!" the fifth minion said in cocky manner.

"X!"

"Who ya talking to?" the sixth minion replied, looking around her.

"And lastly… The Animal!"

The seventh minion growled and sharpened his claws.

"Excellent!" said Crawford, "If you don't know, July 24th marks the town's 150th anniversary of formation. When I was at CGNU in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was rejected by many townsfolk and my only friend was Marzipan. I wanted to marry her, but she went for the idiot known as Homestar Runner, and I was a laughing stock throughout the rest of my CGNU years, and vowed never to come back, until now.

"For years, I have been planning to extract the ultimate revenge on the townsfolk, and the celebrations of 150 years seems like the perfect time to strike!"

"So, what's the plan, boss?"

* * *

"…and this here is Strong Badia," said Homestar Jr., "it's Strong Bad's personal 'country' of his. It's just a dirt lot with a fence, flag, and a lotta junk if you ask me."

"Dirt lot? You dare call Strong Badia a dirt lot in my presence?!"

"Oh, jeez…"

"What?"

Homestar Jr. motioned over to where a certain wrestleman stood.

"That's Strong Bad," said Homestar Jr., "my dad's greatest rival, and so-called ruler of this land."

"You kids should show respect to the place where tropical breezes blow, where Ones are always Cold, parties last all night, and the probably lots of chocolate!"

"I don't see that happening," said Specs, "and how can we show respect if you don't respect us in return?"

"I— Who the crap are you, four eyes?"

"The name is Specs," said the thirteen-year-old girl, taking offense at Strong Bad's rude comment.

"She's one of Mr. Crawford's daughters," added Homestar Jr.

"Hmm, Crawford, eh? I didn't see you at the party. But that doesn't matter! Now scramoose!"

"We were going to," muttered Homestar Jr., and he and Specs walked off.

"Good riddance," Strong Bad said as The Cheat walked up, "I feel these kids have no respect for their elders.

The Cheat squeaked and "mehed" in agreement.

"You said it, The Cheat."

* * *

"Why is that Strong Bad such a jerk?" Specs sulked.

"I dunno; I guess he's always like that, even before I was born," said Homestar Jr., "but anyway, there's Bubs' Concession Stand," he continued, motioning over to a brick-red stand with a white movie-style board with black border.

"Hey, Coach," said Bubs, "how are your athletes doing for the town celebrations?"

"Doing pretty dang good, Bubs," said Coach Z, "they really know how to make a great jorb a performance!"

"Well, I'll say," said Bubs, "I'm gonna be selling stuff on that day too! Hot dogs, chili dogs, snowcones, you name it!"

"Hopefully nothing illegal," called Homestar Jr.

"Who serd thort?" asked Coach Z. He had an accent very few could understand.

"It's me; Homestar Jr.!"

"Oh, hey there, HJ," said Bubs, "and no, don't worry a thing, young 'uns; I ain't gonna sell- Who's the girl with you?"

"That's Specs," said Homestar Jr.

"One of Crawford's young 'uns?" asked Bubs.

"Uh-huh," said Specs, slightly shy.

"Groot to meet ya, Sparks," said Coach Z.

"It's Specs."

"That's whort I serd, Shack."

"Don't mind Coach Z," said Homestar Jr., "he just can't say words right."

"I can't horp the orccent I have," Coach Z shrugged.

"See what I mean?"

"I do."

"I'm just showing Specs around town," said Homestar Jr. to the two grown-up men, "so I'll see ya round."

"Yeah, see ya round too, Hamstray Jerner," said Coach Z.

"Come back soon; we're always awesome!" said Bubs.

* * *

"There's the King of Town's castle," Homestar Jr. showed Specs, then both looked through a window; there was the King of Town scarfing down food.

"What kind of king would eat that unhealthily?" asked Specs.

"Only him," said Homestar Jr., "somehow his wife puts up with it."

After he said that, the Queen of Town walked in with a plate of food. She had long pale blue hair, and wore a light blue dress. Her neck collar was white lined with light blue, and her light blue hat had a long pale blue veil at the back, and on the front where red, pink and white flowers. She also had light blue eyes.

"Here you are, sweetie," said the Queen, placing down the plate.

"Thank you, my dear," said the King as his wife took the plate to be washed, and then he began scarfing down what was on the plate too.

Specs looked at the scene with a hint of disgust. "Doesn't he have decent table manners?" she asked.

"I dunno, but mother won't invite him to our house any time soon," sighed Homestar Jr.

"Who's that guy?" asked Specs, pointing over to a middle aged man shoveling a pile of you-know-what.

"Oh, him…" Homestar Jr. groaned, "That's the Poopsmith, and jeez, does he stink SO bad!"

"I can't smell anything?"

"You can't?"

"No, I lack a sense of smell."

"Lucky you," sighed Homestar Jr., "being near the Poopsmith is one of the worst smells I've ever smelled."

"Hi there," Specs called to the Poopsmith. The smelly man stopped what he was doing and turned to face the two teenagers.

"I'm Specs," the girl continued, "and is shoveling whatsit your job?"

The Poopsmith didn't answer, but he held up a sign that said "Yes".

"Not much of a talker, is he?" asked Specs.

"He has taken a vow of silence," said Homestar Jr. The Poopsmith held up a sign which read "That I do; you'll rarely hear me talk".

"Wanna go somewhere else?" asked Specs to Homestar Jr.

"That I do," Homestar Jr. sighed in relief, "not that I don't trust the Poopsmith; he's just got a crappy job. Literally."

After the two teens left, the Poopsmith looked towards then, before getting back to his shoveling.

* * *

Brenna sat in her room. The walls were a dark shade of purple, and her bed had dark blue bedsheets and a blue pillow. There was also a small closet for her clothes, and she sat at a brown desk, sharpening a par of sais. Compared to Specs' room, Brenna's room was bigger by about twelve square feet.

On one of the walls was something of a dartboard. On the dartboard was several pictures of Specs, most of them had holes through the paper. After sharpening one of her sais, Brenna held it back before flinging it at the dartboard, the sai hitting one of the pictures between Specs' eyes.

"One of these days, sister," Brenna sneered, "you'll be with your mommy!"

She then looked out of the window, drawing back a black curtain. She could see Specs and Homestar Jr., but instead of going towards her house, the two friends walked towards Homestar Jr.'s house instead.

"Now what are my sister and her new friend up to?" Brenna said to herself quietly. She turned away from the window and walked out the door.

* * *

"That's where I live, which I'm sure you know," said Homestar Jr., "would you like to go inside and meet my family?"

"I-I'd like to," said Specs in a shy way, "I'm not entirely sure how dad will feel about this…"

"I'm sure he won't mind a bit," Homestar Jr. insisted, "I don't think he mentioned anything about being at someone else's home, did he?"

"No, he didn't," said Specs, then she paused before speaking up again, "eh, what the heck."

Homestar Jr. opened the door for Specs, which she accepted, and he followed in after her and closed the door behind them. Unknown to them, Brenna had just gotten out of the Crawford-Hordern front door to see what they were up to.

"There may be something that could interest father," she said in a sly manner.

* * *

"Wow," said Specs as she entered the living room, "you must live in a big house!"

"It's not a penthouse or a manor," said Homestar Jr., "but it's home nonetheless."

"Bringing a stranger in our house?" a voice cried out. Homestar Jr. turned around and sighed with annoyance.

"Starzipan, she's not a stranger," he said firmly, "this is Specs, and she's my new friend."

"Hmph," said Starzipan, "when mom sees Ms. Four Eyes, she'll be cheesed!"

Not a few seconds after saying that, Marzipan entered the living room and saw Specs. Starzipan smirked to herself. _She's in trouble now…_

"Oh, hello there Shelly," Marzipan said kindly, "it's nice to see you here."

"Oh, ah, thank you, Mrs. Runner," said Specs, "but I prefer to be called Specs."

Starzipan scoffed and turned away. "Maybe it's just my behavior she hates…"

With Marzipan were the four-year-old twins, Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. They looked up and saw Specs.

"Hewwo," said Marzipan Jr.

"Who are you?" asked Marzistar.

"I'm Specs, and you are…?"

"I'm Mawzipan Juniow," said the broomstick-like twin, "and that's my twin Mawzistaw."

"Aren't you two cute as a button," said Specs, who had got down on her knees and began tousling their hair. The little twins giggled.

"You're pretty," said Marzistar.

"Well this is the first time we've met properly," said Marzipan, "my husband Homestar's been training with Coach Z and Pom-Pom, but I'm sure you'll meet him soon enough."

"We saw Coach Z earlier talking with Bubs about the upcoming celebrations," said Homestar Jr., "Pom-Pom and Palm-Palm are helping make decorations."

"It's great that most of us are taking part in the celebrations," said Marzipan.

* * *

Unknown to them, as they talked about who was doing what, Brenna was eavesdropping, and grinned evilly and quietly to herself.

"If we mess up the celebration plans," she told herself, "I bet we can blame it on my sister and have the blame put on her. Father and I are going to need a mole to make sure people believe she's the criminal. Maybe then we can kill them on the 24th! But who will be gullible enough to join us?"

Brenna then looked through the window and without making herself seen, barely spotted Starzipan in the hallway, sulking.

"I think she'll be a perfect ally," she smirked.

* * *

**What does Brenna have in store for Starzipan and the rest of the Runner family? Wait and find out when chapter 4 is up!**


	5. Chapter 4: Preparations and Arguments

**Chapter four heats things up.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Preparations and Arguments**

"What were you thinking, going into a stranger's house without my permission?" Crawford sneered at Specs.

"You never said anything about letting me in other peoples' houses," the girl in yellow protested.

"I didn't, but I stated that you return by five!"

"It was only for a few minutes-"

"And it's now eight minutes after!"

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"Off to your room, young lady!" Crawford pointed to the hallway, "We shall discuss this later…"

Earlier, Crawford had knocked on the Runners' front door and requested for Specs to come downstairs (she was in Homestar Jr.'s room at the time), and Marzipan called for her. When she and Homestar Jr. did so, Crawford "thanked" them for looking after her and when the door was closed, he dragged Specs into their house.

After Specs was out of their sight, Crawford summoned Brenna over here.

"Anything from the Runner family you've picked up?" he asked.

"Sister's new friend is a kind person from what I could tell earlier that morning," Brenna explained, "and her friend's got a sister who's pretty bratty and sulky."

"He's got four sisters; be specific."

"Violet-red dress, blonde, blue soles, name Starzipan."

"How did she feel? Her reaction to Specs being here?"

"She doesn't like my sister, she's envious of her brother, basically a jealous type. I feel she'll be a perfect ally to us."

"Are you sure? She's only twelve years of age!"

"But I feel she'd be perfect in framing Specs for damage to the celebrations."

Crawford paused and stared at Brenna for a few seconds. "I see… continue."

* * *

Later that night, Specs stood by the windowsill, upset at being yelled at by her stepfather. She didn't get respect around the household, with Brenna taunting her constantly and Crawford not doing a thing about it.

Opposite her window was Homestar Jr.'s. She was envious of him; he had a loving family (bar Starzipan). She breathed a heavy sigh.

"I want to be like you, Homestar Jr.," she said to herself, "you've got good friends, a loving family, a happy life; I've none of those things. I haven't seen my mother and sister for a long time…"

As Specs moped quietly to herself, a mysterious girl stood behind the corner of the house, wearing a brown hooded cloak. The girl had overheard Specs and sighed quietly.

"I haven't seen you for years either sister," she said, "one of these days, we'll meet again…"

Specs heard the voice and looked around, but again found no one.

"That sounded familiar," she muttered to herself, "but it can't be… can it?"

"It was, Specs," the girl said in a very quiet tone.

* * *

It was the ninth of July, about two weeks before the celebrations, and everybody was making preparations. Homestar Jr., Palm-Palm, Milestone, Homezipan, Starzipan, Know-it-Ally, Violet Blue, Star Bad, and Jack-Jack were going to help take part in preparations for the celebrations. Specs and Brenna had also been asked to take part as well. Specs agreed to it, but Brenna was more reluctant.

"It'll be a good chance to know the others a little more," Homestar Jr. told Specs.

"Your sisters I know," said Specs, "as well as Milestone and Palm-Palm, but I never got a chance to meet some of the others."

"Now's the opportunity," smiled Homestar Jr.

"What's up, cous?!" a voice called out from behind them. Homestar Jr. gasped as a girl of seventeen hugged him tightly. She had white skin, big blue eyes, pink hair with a light blue bow, a light blue shirt with a pink heart, pink legs and arms, light blue shoes and white gloves.

"Miley, please," gasped Homestar Jr., "I asked you not to sneak up on me and my sisters like that!"

"Sorry, Star J," said Miley, letting go, "but it lets you know I'm there! Who's your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?!" exclaimed Specs, almost blushing.

"We've just met a few days ago," explained Homestar Jr., "where the heck were you in the Crawfords' welcome party?"

"I was at a ballet and a sack race, and there was a petting zoo!" Miley squealed at that last statement.

"Really?"

"Oh, I'm just kidding," Miley giggled, "I was there; you just didn't see me."

"Oh…kay…" Homestar Jr. cleared his throat, "Anyway, that's Specs…"

"I'm pleased to meet ya!" Miley squeaked as she shook Specs' hand vigorously, "I'm his cousin Miley Homey, but call me Miley for short!"

"Second cousin, technically," muttered Homestar Jr.

"Ah, nice to meet you too…" Specs said as Miley stopped shaking her hand, "A little excited, isn't she?"

"You don't say," sighed Homestar Jr., "it's who she is, and we can't change it."

"What about Starzipan?" asked Specs.

Before Homestar Jr. could answer, a certain girl in a violet-red shirt turned up from nowhere.

"Oh, it's you," said Specs in a flat tone.

"Look here, Starzipan," Homestar Jr. said firmly, "be considerate of others, pay attention, and above all else, don't cause trouble for anyone."

"Oh, give it a rest," snapped Starzipan, "I can handle myself; I'm not a little girl!"

"I am the oldest of us, and mother knows it's my responsibility to make sure you and Homezipan stay out of trouble."

"Then don't tell me what to do, bossy boots!" And with that, Starzipan walked off, but not without making a rude face at Specs and Homestar Jr.

"Starzy's so mean," complained Miley.

"No kiddin'," groaned Specs, "I seriously have no idea how you and Mrs. Runner put up with her."

"You and me both," agreed Homestar Jr.

* * *

Milestone, Homeschool and Champeen were each carrying two boxes of decorations. Poor Milestone was having difficulty as he felt he could handle the heaviest of the lot with ease.

"Be careful, son," warned his father, "you never know what can happen if you're not careful."

"Don't worry," Milestone struggled to crack a smile, "I think I can handle!"

"Yeah, and last time I checked, you tried to handle carrying a big cake by yourself and got messy," said Champeen sarcastically.

"At least I won't get messy this time," Milestone muttered to himself. Unfortunately, he was distracted by looking at Know-it-Ally. The Scottish girl was speaking with Violet Blue.

_Man, she's so pretty,_ he thought to himself, _I would really love to have her as my girlfriend, but will she accept me?_

"Milestone, look out!"

He had been so distracted he didn't see himself nearly trip over a rock in the ground. He might've fallen on the boxes if Specs hadn't interfered.

"I got ya!" she cried, helping Milestone upright, and he regained balance.

"Oh, thank you… Specs, is it?"

"That's me," said Specs, "just be a little more careful, okay? You could've fallen on the boxes you were holding."

"Yeah, I'll keep it in mind; thanks for the tip, though!" Unfortunately, as he set off again, he tripped over the same rock, dropping his boxes spilling flags, streamers, and confetti all over himself, right in front of Ally and Violet.

"_Regardez!_" gasped Violet.

"Watch where ye're spilling yer stuff!" snapped Ally.

"Sorry," panted Milestone, "must've forgot myself…"

"Well, pay attention next time ye carry boxes," said Ally in what Milestone took in as a rude tone.

"Sorry," Milestone groaned again, "I'll make sure of that," he added as Specs went to help clear away the mess.

"Specs is my name," the girl in yellow said to Ally and Violet.

"And ye're his new girlfriend?" Ally asked sarcastically.

"We're just friends," said Homestar Jr., walking over with Homezipan, "I've been showing Specs around to make her familiar with her surroundings."

"That is a nice thing to do for a girl," smiled Violet.

"Lucky him," called Palm-Palm. He was helping Buzz and Coach V set up poles to suspend a banner up, but his lack of height was a big issue.

"D'you think you can handwe this?" called Homezipan.

"Of course I can," said Palm-Palm confidently, but he wasn't so sure. No matter how high he jumped, he couldn't make it to the top of the pole and then hammer it down.

"Aw, nuts," he groaned, "that can be a problem if you're… ah, small."

"Maybe a ladder would be handy," suggested Specs.

"Why didn't we come up with that from the beginning?" said Coach V.

"Right, you two prop it up," said Buzz, "and I'll see if dad can help bring a ladder."

"Okay then," said Palm-Palm, "no job's too hard for me, Palm-Palm!"

It would've been easy, had Starzipan not intervened.

"Ah cwap," groaned Homezipan.

"Get moving, lazy legs!" she said in a rude and cheeky way, "Celebrations don't prepare themselves, you know!"

"Coach V and I are keeping this pole upright till Bubs and Buzz get back," said Palm-Palm firmly, "and Specs is helping Milestone put decorations back in his boxes."

"Strong words from a midget," teased Starzipan.

"Yeah, what he says," called Star Bad, who had just shown up.

"I prefer the term 'little', thank you very much!" snapped Palm-Palm in offense. He hated it whenever someone called him a "midget" or "runt".

"How rude," gasped Violet, "don't ya dare make fun of him!"

"Okay then, we can make fun of Angry Irish Four-Eyes!" Star Bad said rudely.

Ally looked as if she was about to pop a vein. "What did ye call me?!"

"He said you're an angry Irish four-eyes," Starzipan snickered, then burst out laughing. Ally's face went as red as Strong Bad's boxing gloves.

"Uh oh," said Homestar Jr.

"What?" asked Specs.

"This is what happens when Ally gets angry," said Violet.

Immediately, Ally charged at Starzipan first, but the latter got out of the way and Ally ended up attacking Homezipan instead.

"What did I do?! What did I do?!" Homezipan protested.

"_I'll rip yer hair off and make ye eat it!_" Ally shrieked.

"Hey, get offa her!" cried Milestone, and he tried to pull Ally away from Homezipan, with little luck. Ally shoved him away causing him to fall on top of Violet, his face landing on her chest!

"Are you being a dirty perv?!" the French girl gasped, shoving him off, causing Milestone to land on Ally again!

"Watch it, clumsy boy!" snapped Ally, and this time, Milestone was thrown back towards the pole Coach V and Palm-Palm tried to keep upright, but it swayed out of control, and it fell back towards Star Bad, landing on his foot!

"EEEYOOOOWWW!" he yelled, and in blind anger, he charged towards Ally and Homezipan, with Violet, Milestone, Palm-Palm and Coach V ending up joining the fray.

"Stop it!" cried Specs, "Fighting isn't solving anything, so can we all just calm down and try to be-"

But before she could finish, Star Bad meant to charge at Milestone, but he instead ran toward Specs, knocking her to the ground, and causing her glasses to fall off.

"Agh! I can't see!" cried Specs. Starzipan had seen everything from afar and smirked to herself.

"Right, that's it!" cried Homestar Jr., "I'll have to do this my way!"

"Don't bother!" a voice called out, "Stop this right now!"

Suddenly, Homezipan, Know-it-Ally, Violet Blue, Milestone, Palm-Palm, Star Bad, and Coach V did stop fighting and looked up. There was Marzipan, who had told them to stop the fight, and with her were Homestar, Pom-Pom, Strong Bad, Baddette, Strong Mad, The Cheat, Homeschool, Champeen, Miley, Crawford, Brenna, Coach Z, another male parent, and two other female parents, along with Bubs, Buzz, Jack-Jack, and with them was another woman. She had very pale blue skin, dark blue hair with a yellow bow, black eyes with white pupils, a pearl necklace, white gloves, a dress with red, pale blue and red vertical stripes, a yellow belt with a blue buckle, and long white shoes.

Most of the adults at angry looks on their faces; Homestar and Miley were confused, Buzz and Jack-Jack were in shock, and Brenna gave a quiet smirk.

"What in the name of music is going on here?" said Marzipan firmly.

"Er, we was just fooling around and…" Milestone began, rather pathetically.

"We got into an argument to what should go where, then…" Palm-Palm said nervously.

"I can explain everything," interrupted Homestar Jr. He was almost never afraid to tell the truth, even if it hurt and would cause grief amongst others. By this point, Specs had retrieved her glasses and put them back on.

"So what did happen here then?" asked Bubs.

"Firstly, Milestone gotten into an accident in front of Ally and Violet…" And Homestar Jr. continued on for another minute or so, without exaggerating any aspect of the events.

"…and now I don't want to cast blame on others," he finished, "but if I may, Star Bad and my sister Starzipan started it all; I saw with my own two eyes."

"I saw too," added Specs, "I knew Homezipan would never cause such a ruckus; she's a sweet, innocent girl after all, so that leaves one girl and one boy…"

"Starzipan! Front and center!" Marzipan commanded firmly. Starzipan rolled her eyes as she walked slowly towards her mother, face to face.

"Yes, mom?" she asked innocently.

"Don't play that innocent game of yours," said Marzipan firmly, "Homestar Jr. told us everything, and I know you'd cause this ruckus on purpose!"

"Can you keep control of your kids?!" Baddette snapped.

"They're just a nuisance waiting to happen!" added Strong Bad.

"That will do," Marzipan said firmly to Star Bad's parents, before returning to face her daughter, "Starzipan, I'd like you to go home now for we will discuss this later."

"There's no need to make such a stupid choice like that from a broom," retorted Starzipan, "I can be much help if I want to!"

Everyone else, even Strong Bad, Baddette and Star Bad, gasped in horror; Starzipan had said one of the worst things a child could say to his or her parent. Even Homestar was shocked that one of his daughters insulted his wife, her mother.

"Bad guwl! Bad guwl!" he said crossly. Marzipan's face was red in anger, and it was a few moments before she spoke again.

"Off to home, with you, little missy!" she said sternly, "We _will_ discuss your behavior this evening!"

"Yes, mom," Starzipan sniffed and walked off in a sulk. The rest of the teens walked over to their respective parents, except Homestar Jr., Homezipan and Specs.

"I'm sorry about all this, mother," said Homestar Jr., "I did try and warn her-"

"I'm aware of your efforts," said Marzipan, this time more gently, "I don't blame you, it's Starzipan and her attitude."

"Was she always like this?" asked Specs.

"In every set of twins, there's a yin and a yang," Marzipan explained, "like boy and girl, day and night, or fire and water. When Homezipan and Starzipan were born twelve years ago and grew up, Homezipan was sweet as honey, but Starzipan was a different story; she would often make fun of and bully other kids and a lot of the time, I was called in to the principal's office because of her behavior."

Specs didn't answer, registering what Marzipan had said.

"I don't think Stawzipan will change hew ways," said Homezipan, "she'ww awways be a bad guwl."

"You and me both," sighed Homestar Jr. No one had noticed Brenna and Crawford had disappeared.

* * *

"It's not my fault at all," Starzipan sulked quietly as she walked home, "I'm not a bad girl; I just want attention!" She had arrived at the Runner home and sat down on the steps to sulk.

"Poor little Starzipan," a voice hissed behind her, "all alone and with no friends either. She has to listen to mummy's constant nagging when he gets intro trouble…"

"What do you want?" Starzipan snapped rudely. From out of nowhere, Brenna appeared from behind the wall.

"People call me Brenna," she said, "but it isn't my real name; it's just a moniker I go by in reality. My real name is Blade."

"What will it take to make you go away?" muttered Starzipan.

"I know how you feel, Starzipan; all alone, no friends to talk to, a sibling to thinks he or she knows better, and you're overlooked in the family." Blade was making this up, but Starzipan believed her.

"I can be your friend," Blade continued, "and then you can show you can't be overlooked by everyone!"

Starzipan seemed to like the idea and gave a smile.

"Okay then, what do I do?"

* * *

"It really must be tough being a mother to five kids, isn't it?" The woman who was with Bubs, Buzz and Jack-Jack was speaking with Marzipan later in the day at Bubs' Concession Stand. With them was a third woman, with long dark blue hair, a dark blue torso, a white head, white arms and legs. She seemed to look permanently sad no matter how good the day was.

"I know, Rosemary," Marzipan sighed, "look at you and Bubs – you have Buzz and Jack-Jack only; I got to deal with a well-mannered son, two daughters that bicker, and two more little girls who have yet to enter school."

"Being a mother is serious business, even if you've only one or two offspring," said Rosemary, "you just have to make the right decision for your children, even if one of them is badly behaved."

Marzipan didn't answer for a moment; she knew where Rosemary was coming from – Buzz was more mild-mannered compared to Jack-Jack's wild fun-loving personality.

"You're right," Marzipan smiled, then frowned and spoke more seriously, "if Starzipan makes so much as one screw-up during the celebrations, I will not hesitate to make a phone call to the Troubled Girls' Youth Society in Stark Hawk Canada."

"Would it make a difference?" said the dark blue girl, "Nobody and nothing can do a thing that will make one girl like her to change her ways; it's just depressing and sad all at the same time."

"Oh, don't think this way, Forlornelle," said Marzipan, "I've heard they've got good instructors and are very much disciplined. It can't go wrong, surely."

"There's always a first time for anything to go wrong," mumbled Forlornelle, but no one heard her.

* * *

Later that evening, Homestar Jr. decided to try and cheer Specs up by bringing her to the stone bridge.

"People say that on a clear night, and sometimes a full moon, it's a very romantic setting," he said.

"Wow," was all Specs could say. He's so amazing and sweet, she thought, but does he like me in return?

"Oh, yes, it's romantic all right," a sly voice said from behind them. The two teens jumped and looked around.

"Show yourself," said Homestar Jr., "I haven't time for this nonsense!"

"Right behind you…" the voice hissed. Homestar Jr. and Specs looked from behind and gasped; there was Blade, wielding two sais and her mouth had become bigger and displayed sharp teeth.

"Holy crap!" gasped Homestar Jr., eyes wide in horror. Specs knew deep inside that it meant trouble.

"'Holy crap' is right," said another voice, and out from the bushes emerged a man both Homestar Jr. and Specs knew…

* * *

**Who is this man? What does Blade have in store for Starzipan? What will become of the celebrations, and what is Crawford's plan? Wait and see for the next chapters to come!**


	6. Chapter 5: Dark Secrets Revealed

**If last chapter's left you suspense, well you ain't seen nothing yet! Some gore is involved, so reader's discretion is advised...**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Dark Secrets Revealed**

"F-f-father?!"

"Mr. Crawford!"

"Yes, it is me," Crawford gave an evil smirk, "and since I've got you two cornered, it'll be fitting you die here this evening!"

"What did we ever do to you?" asked Homestar Jr. angrily, "We never done a thing wrong!"

"It's got nothing to do with you," Crawford sneered, "it has to do with your parents, who ruined my chances at romance!"

"What did they do?"

"That doesn't matter! Blade, finish them off."

"As you wish, master," the half-mutant girl grinned evilly, and threw her sais at the innocent teens, both dodging them quickly.

"Ahh!" cried Specs.

* * *

Not too far away, Palm-Palm and Milestone were walking back home with their respective fathers.

"Look, I know we said sorry a hundred times over," said Milestone, "but we couldn't have helped it, and I was just trying to pull Ally away from Homezipan…"

"It's never wise to get involved in fights, you know," said Homeschool firmly.

_I should also expect a son of mine to know better than getting involved in fights,_ Pom-Pom bubbled.

"I know, dad," sighed Palm-Palm, looking down on the ground. Before anyone could say anything, Milestone noticed something odd.

"Hey, what's going on at the stone bridge?" he asked.

Pom-Pom squinted his eyes to get a closer look. _That looks like Crawford, his daughter Brenna, and… Homestar Jr. and Specs?_

"Why are Crawford and Brenna attacking them?" asked Homeschool.

"And Brenna's got knives!" exclaimed Palm-Palm. His remark made the four quickly decide to run over and help.

* * *

"Just stand still so I can kill you!" Blade snarled, trying to attack Homestar Jr. unsuccessfully.

"Never!" cried Homestar Jr., dodging yet another sai attack. It was two against two, but it felt more like two against four.

"Can you hold them off?" groaned Specs.

"I'm trying!" cried Homestar Jr., "But they're just getting trickier to dodge!"

"Need a hand?" called a voice. Crawford and Blade stopped, and looked over; there was Pom-Pom, Palm-Palm, Milestone, and Homeschool, looking at them with serious expressions on their faces.

"What's going on here?" said Homeschool crossly.

"What is it to you, skinny reared baldy?" Blade sneered.

"No one insults my dad and gets away with it!" Milestone scowled, and before anyone could stop him, he charged at Blade quickly, knocking her to the ground.

"You stupid brat!" Crawford snarled, but before he could attack, Pom-Pom charged in and grabbed him, and then slammed the left side of Crawford's face three times against the stone bridge ledge, leaving a hideous red stain.

Blade had recovered, and was prepared to have a stab at Pom-Pom, but the Pom knew better and jumped out of the way, causing Blade to stab Crawford in his left forearm and upper arm.

"ARRRGH!" Crawford yelled in pain, "Son of a…!"

Before he could finish his sentence and react to another blow, his right hand was hit with a big rock thrown by Palm-Palm, and from dizziness, Crawford blacked out. Homeschool shoved Blade off the stone bridge before she could attack, and fell into the river.

"You alright?" asked Milestone.

"Yes," said Specs, quite badly shaken up.

"Should mother be told about this?" Homestar Jr. asked anxiously.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marzipan was speaking to Starzipan in the kitchen. She was not happy in the slightest with her daughter.

"Your behavior today was absolutely appalling!" she said crossly, "I've heard of bad things from you, but nothing has bad as that ruckus you caused deliberately! I'm giving you one last chance, Starzipan; if you do so much as one more bad thing, I will be sending you off to the Troubled Girls' Youth Society in Stark Hawk Canada! Do I make myself clear?"

Starzipan didn't answer, but she nodded slowly and said, "yes, mom," in a quiet, but barely sulky tone.

At that moment, Homestar Jr. walked in, looking like he'd been through a storm. He was followed by Palm-Palm, Specs, Milestone, Homeschool, and Pom-Pom.

"What's all this?" asked Marzipan, and then quickly dismissed Starzipan.

"It's kind of a long story, aunt Marzipan," said Milestone.

"I'd hate to admit it, but we got confronted by Brenna and Crawford on the stone bridge," said Homestar Jr., "had it not been for Pom-Pom, Palm-Palm, Milestone and uncle Homeschool, we'd have been done for."

"Not to mention he said something about you and Mr. Runner ruining my father's chances of romance," added Specs.

Marzipan fell silent and stared wide eyed. At that point, Homezipan had entered the room.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I should tell you five about what happened years ago," Marzipan admitted, "Pom-Pom and Homeschool already know about this as we, Homestar and Strong Bad attended CGNU before any of you were born."

"What did happen?" asked Homezipan to Homestar Jr.

"We'll explain after mother tells us," said her brother. So this is the story Marzipan told them…

* * *

**OCTOBER 1990**

Twenty years ago, Homestar and Marzipan were attending Crazy Go Nuts University, and back then they were still dating, and like today, their relationship tended to get rocky at times. Homeschool, Pom-Pom, Strong Bad, Strong Mad, Baddette, Crawford, and even Homsar were also students at the time. Bubs had begun his first official business stand with his new wife Rosemary, and Coach Z was now a trainee coach and had a brunette afro and mustache.

At some point, Homestar and Marzipan gotten into an argument and refused to speak to one another for several days. During that time, she was spending time with Darren Crawford, and he was on the verge of getting her to like him.

"Who'd want to date a dork that can't pronounce his R's right like him?" he was saying to Strong Bad.

"Yeah, I agree with ya," said Strong Bad, "I seriously have no idea how the broomstick puts up with the so-called 'tewiffic athwete'," he added, his boxing gloves motioning quotation marks and sulking about losing the Strongest Man in the World Contest months earlier.

Neither noticed Marzipan had overheard them, hidden behind the lockers. She didn't mean to get a little angry with Homestar when he accidentally messed up her grand by trampling on it; he just didn't know much about gardening. Even if Homestar unintentionally got her angry at times, Marzipan still loved him because he was sweet and innocent compared to Strong Bad's rough and tough "bad boy" attitude.

* * *

The next day, as Marzipan and Crawford were walking down the hallway after literature class, the former noticed Homestar talking with Pom-Pom. She secretly made a decision to herself to apologize to Homestar in person, thinking it was better face to face than a letter of apology.

"Hi boys," said Marzipan, hoping they'd notice her; they did.

"Hewwo, Mawzipan," said Homestar.

_Oh, hello,_ said Pom-Pom.

"Erm, Homestar…"

"Yes, Mawzipan?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you for messing up my garden the other day… I know you couldn't help yourself."

Even if he wasn't the brightest bulb in a lamp, Homestar was sometimes aware whenever he made mistakes.

"I'm sowwy fow messing up youw gawden," Homestar apologized, "it was an accident, wite?"

"I know," smiled Marzipan. Unknown to both, Crawford was seething in anger.

"You're not taking her from me," he growled under his breath, but nobody heard him.

* * *

A few days later, Marzipan was greeted to a terrible sight; Crawford was beating up Homestar against a locker, and everyone who was watching wasn't doing a thing; they looked on in horror.

"Can someone please stop him?!" cried Marzipan, but nobody did, so she had to get to Crawford and Homestar himself.

"STOP IT, PLEASE STOP!" she screamed, "WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU?!"

"He stole you from me!" Crawford snarled, "I could've had you, but you went for the idiot!"

Marzipan stared coldly. "What… did… you… say about him?!"

"You're smart, I'm smart, but he's an idiot!"

Marzipan got angry, and without warning, she gave him an especially hard slap on the face, causing him to fall over onto the ground face first.

"That's what you get for hurting him, you jerk!"

Crawford didn't answer; he rubbed his face, sneered and walked off to sulk. Marzipan soon turned to a badly beat up Homestar and kissed his cheek.

"Are you okay?" she asked sweetly.

Homestar coughed before answering. "My head huwts…" he moaned.

"It'll be okay," said Marzipan, helping him up, "a little visit to the nurse's office might help."

* * *

**JULY 9, 2010**

"…and after that, Darren Crawford became a total laughingstock at CGNU, and a few weeks before the end of the school year in 1991, he had vanished without a trace, no close friends to speak of… until now."

There was a pause before Specs spoke up.

"Mrs. Runner, you're not the only one with a dark secret," she said, "Brenna isn't my real sister; she's a clone."

"A clone?" Homestar Jr., Palm-Palm, Milestone and Homezipan looked at her in surprise.

"Yes, a clone that looks like me, but she has better vision than I, and a big difference is her mouth can change from small to big with sharp teeth."

"I did see that, as I was with you at the time," said Homestar Jr., "if you don't mind me saying this Specs; I did see you the night before you were introduced to the town, and you mentioned having a mother and somewhat a friend named Monocle."

Specs looked at him in surprise. "So… you were the person who spoke to me that night?"

"Yeeeah, pretty much…"

"I guess I should be open about this," said Specs, "it started when I was a baby…"

* * *

**APRIL 1997**

Shelley Millicent Hordern had very bad eyesight when she was born, so when she was just six months of age, she was fitted with glasses giving her the nickname "Specs". She lived in a town several miles north of Free Country USA, on the same island. Her parents were Shade and Oriana Hordern, and her two year old sister was Michelle Samantha Hordern, better known as "Monocle" due to blurred vision in her left eye.

Shade was a very kind, caring father; tall and thin with brunette hair, an orange shirt with a brown vest, brown trousers and glasses. His wife, Oriana, was a sweet slender young woman in her early twenties; blond hair, a red school teacher dress, and brown shoes.

For little Specs, life had been peaceful, but it came to an abrupt halt and change forever when Shade was threatened to leave the island, because otherwise, he'd have been killed. Oriana was worried for several days when Shade never came back. She feared that he had seen another woman, or maybe he was killed.

Then just a week after Shade disappeared, Darren Crawford came into the doorstep and took Oriana as his wife. Although he gave her love, all he got in return was hate from Oriana.

"I can't let the girls grow up to hate me as well," he said to himself darkly, "I need at least _one_ girl to love me like I am her father."

He knew Monocle was the older of the daughters and that she would know better than baby Specs would, so to avoid risking Monocle not accepting him as her "father", Crawford planned to create a likeness of Specs that _would_ love him.

"I'll need to use her DNA…"

When little Specs was asleep that night, Crawford gently plucked a hair off her head. So gentle, the baby didn't even make a fuss. The next evening after, he had created a clone of Specs that was identical, with a few minor differences; perfect 20/20 vision, but the big difference was… her mouth.

Upon successfully creating the clone, Crawford had Monocle sent to an orphanage the same night, completely separating the biological sisters.

When Oriana discovered this, she was in absolute horror; she gave her remaining true daughter one last kiss, and was never seen again. Some way she escaped to Stark Hawk, Canada; others claim she committed suicide, but there were no conclusive answers, for a search would've been fruitless.

As years went by, Specs and the clone Brenna (more commonly known as Blade) grew up with hate for each other, and the poor girl with glasses lived with an abusive father, an equally abusive sister, and lived in a poorly maintained house. Blade would be given her own pair of sais at thirteen, which Crawford gave to her as a "present."

Despite the abuse at home, Specs was gifted and intelligent; so intelligent, in fact, she entered kindergarten at the age of four, a few days before her fifth birthday, in 2001. She made a few friends in her lifetime, but come June 2010, the "family" was evicted for living in a poorly maintained house, and ended up moving to Free Country USA…

* * *

**JULY 9, 2010**

"…and the rest you already know," finished Specs, "them abusing me made me quiet and withdrawn around others."

"I know how it is," Homezipan said quietly, knowing full-well about Starzipan's bad attitude. Marzipan knew this.

"I've spoken with Starzipan, and I'm giving her one last chance to improve her behavior," she said, "because if she doesn't, then I'm sending her off to the Troubled Girls' Youth Society, a one-way ticket to Stark Hawk, Canada."

"Bit expensive, isn't it?" asked Homestar Jr.

"Not if you're a well-received musician, no," Marzipan shrugged, "I'm trying to make the best choices for the family."

"I know you're trying, Marzipan," said Homeschool, "but don't push yourself too hard."

As they talked, they didn't notice Starzipan spying on them from the door to the living room. She knew that her mother warned her to be on her best behavior, and that Blade wanted to be her friend, but Starzipan was a stupid, reckless girl who hardly knew right from wrong, and wanted things to go her way.

But if she could do it without Marzipan noticing…

"Maybe I can," she whispered to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, not too far away, Blade had gotten out of the river, and was dragging her unconscious father back to their home. Crawford was in a bad state; his left arm had two deep red gashes where Blade's sais had dug themselves in, his right hand was crushed from impact with the rock, and his skull looked like it had suffered a brutal blow in a boxing match. What seemed most gruesome was that his left eye was missing.

"Never mind, father," Blade said quietly, "we shall save your life, give you a rebirth to a life like you can never imagine!"

She opened the door, took Crawford in, and brought his body towards a door, which lead into the basement. Milestone had seen it from the kitchen window of the Runner house.

"Hey, what's Bren- er, Blade doing with Crawford?" he asked.

"No idea," said Homestar Jr.

"Have you seen those gashes on his awm?" exclaimed Homezipan.

"Must've been from Blade's sais, no doubt," said Palm-Palm.

"Look at his face!" gasped Specs, with a look of horror and disgust.

_That was me,_ Pom-Pom admitted.

"Hope we didn't kill them by accident," said Milestone.

"Why would he be brought into a basement?" asked Marzipan.

* * *

The basement of the Crawford-Hordern residence was fairly large. It had the typical stuff you could find in a hospital; a cot, CPR breathing scanner, shelves of medicine, the like.

Crawford's seven minions were also waiting in the basement, for it was where they lived to avoid being spotted. They had been heard of the attack at the stone bridge, and were well prepared to save Crawford from possibly dying.

"What can we do?" asked Shov.

"The left side of his face is smashed, his upper left arm bone is screwed, and his right hand crushed beyond healing," explained Blade.

"What are we expected to do?" asked X, "Leave him with one arm without a hand and his face permanently damaged?"

"I've a better plan than that," Blade gave an evil grin showing her teeth, "we can add bionic implants, make him stronger!"

"Okay… how?" said Bubba.

"Steel Man think teeth girl will make Crawford a mini Steel Man," growled Steel Man.

"In a way, we're on the same page, Steel Man," Blade grinned wider, "we commence… immediately!"

* * *

Within the next few hours or so, into the night, they performed the first part of surgery; amputations on his left arm, right hand, and areas of his face. His left arm was completely removed right at the shoulder, his right hand had its boned removed, and his skull had metal replacements as well as his eye being replaced with a bionic eye. Part of a metal face mask covered up the scars.

"Look at that!" exclaimed Mad Hatt, pointing at a monitor, "He's breathing!"

"Can't wake him up just yet," advised Blade, "keep him knocked out until we attach his new arm and new hand."

* * *

The night air was filled with the sounds of mechanics whirring and tools banging, drilling, and sawing. The Runners next door had been kept woken up for part of the night.

"Ergh, Homestar?"

"Yes, Mawzipan?"

"Do you hear that?"

"Uh, nope."

"Oh, okay…"

* * *

It went on through the day, much to the family's surprise. Specs was staying with them for the time being. She didn't mind, except for that she had to put up with Starzipan, who was suspiciously quiet through all this.

As the noises were taking place from within the Crawford-Hordern residence, Blade had secretly done some sabotage work on the field where the celebrations would take place, not far from the King of Town's Castle. No one was expected to do work during the weekends, giving Blade the advantage.

During all this, she had Starzipan secretly helping her in causing sabotage to Bubs' Concession Stand (which wasn't being operated at the time), Strong Badia, Coach Z's locker room and the athlete field, and even told others who hadn't met Specs like Know-it-Ally, Violet Blue, Star Bad, and even Jack-Jack bad names, but we know Specs didn't, don't we?

All this time, Marzipan remained unaware of Starzipan's actions, and assumed she was going outside to stretch her legs.

"She seems well-behaved all of a sudden," she said to Homestar, "maybe my threat of sending her away made Starzipan behave."

"It sewiouswy wowked?" Homestar asked in surprise.

"Maybe, I don't know," Marzipan shrugged.

* * *

On the night of July 11, Blade returned to the Crawford-Hordern basement just in time to see Crawford himself arise from his deep slumber. He looked hat himself in a mirror. His left arm was now thin and brown, with a football-sized claw instead of a hand, his faceplate was dark gray with a red bionic eye, and his right hand was dark gray with black claws on the ends of each finger.

"Blade…" he exclaimed, "you and our minions… they did this for me?"

"Yes, father, we've given you a new form," Blade grinned, "your new left hand is a claw, to crush enemies with!"

"Excellent," Crawford grinned as well, observing his new left hand.

"We have sabotaged the celebrations close to the King's castle, as well as several areas of Free Country USA, with Starzipan's help."

"Brilliant. Who can we set the blame onto?"

"Glad you asked, father… we met people Specs hadn't yet, and told lies about her to make everybody think she's a monster for doing all this."

"Very good… and now with my new look, Darren Crawford is no more, for now I will become… Deep… Claw…!"

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUUUNNN!**

**Sorry, I had to. :P**

**What do Blade and Crawford (now Deep Claw) have in store right now for Free Country USA? Will the celebrations go on as planned? Will Specs be proven innocent? What did happen to Shade, Oriana and Monocle? And why am I asking these questions?!**

**We're now halfway there, so look out for chapter 6!**


	7. Chapter 6: Blame it on Specs

**Here's chapter six!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Blame it on Specs**

The following morning, on Monday the 12th, there was a town meeting in the chapel of the King of Town's castle. Strangely, Crawford was absent, but some people were too upset to notice.

"The track's been all messed orp!"

"My land is in ruins!"

"Someone broke into my house!"

"They stole from mine!"

"My car has been vandalized!"

The King of Town's Court, the Hornblower, the Cleric, the Blacksmith, the Knight, the Chef, as well as the Poopsmith, stood neatly in a row, or stinky in the Poopsmith's case. The King stood between his men, munching on a chicken leg.

The Queen was doing what she could to calm everyone down.

"Right, simmer down now!" she called, banging a gavel on the table, and within moments, the shouting stopped.

"Thank you. Now then," said the Queen, "one at a time, please."

"Some little sneak seems to have come to Strong Badia last night, and vandalized my colony!" screamed Strong Bad, "The fence has been smashed and has got graffiti on it, they even took down Flaggy and knocked over my sign!"

"Uh-huh," said the Queen, and looked over to the Knight, who was writing it all down.

"You won't belerve what dey done to the track!" exclaimed Coach Z, "The swimming pool's been perlorted, lackers been groffetioed, the bernches fell to bits, and need I mention some greenish-yerlowish stains?"

Some townsfolk groaned in disgust, knowing what Coach Z meant, even the Knight, but he wrote it down anyway, translating Coach Z's bizarre accent.

"Think your track's got it bad, Coach Z?" asked Bubs, "You haven't seen what those vandals did to my stand; the sign's been messed up, money stolen, and goods have been wrecked! I could end up being out of business before Decemberween!"

"That'll be bad for our business in town," remarked Strong Bad, followed by murmurs of agreement.

"What's that got to do with the celebrations?" called Rosemary.

"I'll tell you what," said the King of Town, finishing up his chicken leg, "these acts of vandalism will cause trouble for the celebrations and might cause cancellation to them!"

"The King's right!" cried Champeen, "The celebrations are ruined!"

The townsfolk went into a panic, before the Queen banged the gavel again.

"Settle down!" she shouted, and then the crowd went quiet again after a few moments.

"Now," continued the Queen, "every year, we celebrate the founding of our fine town, and this year is supposed to be a special celebration. Even something serious as vandalism isn't necessarily enough to stall a celebration."

"Exactly," said her constantly hungry King, "not even the Great Depression stopped the celebrations from when my grandfather was ruler."

"But who could've disrupted the celebrations with vandalism?" asked Violet Blue.

"I've only just found out!" said a female voice.

Everyone turned to the source of the voice; Blade had spoken up.

"Tell us, Brenna," said the Queen kindly, "who might be responsible for this mess?"

"It is a girl in her teens," Blade sneered, but not enough to expose her teeth. Violet Blue, Know-it-Ally, Miley Homey and Specs looked at one another with concerned looks.

"She wears glasses and is very clever," Blade continued. Ally and Specs began to look anxious.

"And she's right there next to the Runner family!" Blade finished, pointing at Specs, who was sitting with the Runner family.

Everyone in the crowd gasped in horror and stared at Specs. Homestar and Marzipan looked at one another in disbelief. Homezipan, Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. gasped in shock, Starzipan was unusually quiet, and then Homestar Jr. spoke up.

"That's not true!" he said in Specs' defense, "If I know Specs, she's one of the sweetest most innocent girls I know, alongside Homezipan. Tell me people; does Specs look like one who would cause that much havoc on an innocent town like ours'?"

There were several murmurs before someone else spoke up again.

"I second my bwothew's wowds!" burst out Homezipan, "She's wike a big sistew I nevew had!" Starzipan rolled her eyes at that comment.

"Yeah," agreed the twins.

"She's nice and kind too," added Palm-Palm, and Pom-Pom, Milestone and Homeschool vocally agreed.

"Specs is almost like another daughter in the family," finished Marzipan.

"Thank you," said Specs quietly, giving a slight smile to show she was grateful.

"That's what _you_ lot think," said Blade, "I overheard her a couple of nights ago saying nasty things about Know-it-Ally, Violet Blue, Star Bad, and many more besides. Tell them, why don't you?"

"That Brenna's right!" said Ally, and pointed an angry accusing finger at Specs, "that sneaky lass said I was an angry Irish peabrain!"

This was followed by several gasps.

"No!" cried Specs, "I never said-!"

"An air-headed fatface you called me!" snapped Star Bad.

"But why would I-?!"

"You said I was a human pansy, you _fou quatre yeux vandalisme_!" fumed Violet.

"Let me explain-!"

"Don't explain anything!" snapped Ally, still pointing accusingly, "We know your game, Specs… or should I say, Vandal in Glasses?"

"What?!"

"That's what Brenna said you go by!" said Violet. Soon everyone else that hadn't stood up for Specs (besides Strong Sad, Forlornelle, Champeen, Miley Homey, and even Homsar) began yelling at her, accusing her of either calling them names or vandalizing their home. Jack-Jack even threw a pie at Specs in shock, but missed.

Poor Specs almost wanted to burst to tears!

"Wait a minute!" Marzipan shouted over the crowd, and everyone shut up. Then she turned to Starzipan, who kept strangely quiet.

"Starzipan, what do you think of Specs as; a lying vandal or innocent girl?" she asked.

"I just don't understand it all, mom," said Starzipan innocently, "to think that what she's done is heinous; but otherwise, nothing to say."

"I see," said Marzipan. Starzipan secretly hoped her mother wouldn't find out.

"What shall we do to the little vandal?" called Strong Bad. The poor girl almost went pale in fright.

"Well," said the King, thinking up a suitable punishment. The Queen motioned to him to show some mercy.

"We will not execute her, because of her age," said the King. Specs gave a sigh of relief. "I shall sentence her to five years in the dungeon! Take her away!"

Before anybody could get their hands (or lack thereof) on her, Homestar Jr. stood in Specs' way.

"No!" he yelled, "I won't let you; if you want to get her, you'll have to get through me first!"

"If you want to get through Homestar Jr.," said Palm-Palm, "you'll have to get through me and Milestone!"

"Yeah!" agreed Milestone.

"If you wanna get thwough Pawm-Pawm and Miwestone," squeaked Homezipan, "you'ww have to get thwough me as well!"

As the four stood in her way, Specs used it to her advantage to make a hasty escape out of a window… right into the Poopsmith's pile of whatsit!

"Uck," she groaned, "Still, it could be worse." She stood up and made a hasty getaway, not caring where she was going. Star Bad had seen from where he was at.

"She's gettin' away!" he called.

"When she returns, there _will_ be consequences," the King said severely, "for now, we'll try to make repairs and the celebrations will go on as planned!"

* * *

"Why was I accused of something I never did?" Specs panted to herself as she ran, "My sister's done bad things to me, but this has to be the worst!"

She didn't know how far she ran, but she arrived before hers and the Runner family's houses. If the Runners now thought she was a bad person she would be scared off and forced to never return. She didn't know if her father was dead or alive in her own house, but as she was dirty, she decided to go into the Crawford-Hordern residence to wash up and get redressed.

"Not leaving a stink trail behind me," she said to herself, "I need a shower to get cleaned. And then leave town, and probably start a new life…"

Then she turned the knobs to start the shower and began to undress…

* * *

"How can this happen?" Homestar Jr. sulked as he and the Runner family walked home, "Specs has done no wrong; how can one be in two areas at once?"

"You'd need a twin that wooks mostwy wike you," Homezipan pointed out.

"Good point," said Homestar Jr., "unless… perhaps Specs was framed…"

Again, Starzipan remained quiet; she felt like she had gotten away with it scot-free, yet still hoped Marzipan wouldn't suspect she had involvement.

_If I keep quiet about this,_ she thought, _they could overlook me entirely. How clever I am…_

* * *

Specs had gotten out of the shower in a yellow towel, her hair was cleaned of whatsit, not a single trace of a bad smell remained. Quickly, she redressed into another dress that looked like the original, only it was a little more orange in tone.

"I heard of what you've done," said a voice as she entered the living room. Specs looked around; where had the voice come from?

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"You've caused vandalism on the town, didn't you?" said the voice.

"I didn't!" cried Specs, "I'm innocent, I tell you!"

"Nobody believes you," said the voice, "so I suggest you run, run and never come back!"

Specs didn't need telling twice; she climbed out an open window facing away from the Runners' house, and ran fast as her legs could carry her.

* * *

"Erm, Starzipan?"

Starzipan gulped on the inside, regained composure, and then turned to face her mother.

"Yes, mom?"

"You don't happen to know anything about this, do you?" Marzipan asked innocently.

"Er, no, I don't," Starzipan lied, "I think it's a shame that Specs would turn out to be a mischievous vandal."

"I see," said Marzipan.

"Was that it?" asked Starzipan innocently.

"That was all," said Marzipan kindly, "just wanted to know." She dismissed Starzipan, much to the girl's relief.

"Phew," she told herself, "if I had spilled the beans, I'd be sent away for life…"

* * *

"How can all this just happen?" Homestar Jr. was telling Homezipan; both were in his room. Homestar Jr. lay on his bed with Homezipan standing close to the door.

"How?" asked Homezipan, not understanding.

"Look at it this way; Starzipan seems to have straightened up on her behavior, Specs and I were nearly killed by Crawford and Blade, Crawford doesn't return to face the public after the fight at the stone bridge, vandalism on the town, Starzipan outside of the house, and now Specs is accused!"

"So it might've just happened aww at once, you mean?" asked Homezipan.

"In a sense, yes," said Homestar Jr., "but coincidence? I don't think so. I think something is up… I smell a rat, but I haven't picked it yet…"

Just as he finished his sentence, there came several knocks on the door.

"Who's that at the doow?" wondered Homezipan.

"Let's find out," said Homestar Jr., and the two siblings went downstairs to find the source of the knocking.

* * *

Marzipan answered the door, and was surprised to find Pom-Pom, Palm-Palm, Homeschool, Champeen, Milestone, Miley Homey, and even Homsar, Strong Sad and Forlornelle looking frantic.

"What's with you lot?" asked Marzipan in surprise, just as her only son and Homezipan walked into the living room.

"They think Specs lives here," panted Milestone.

"They?"

"An angry mob's going to attack!" cried Miley Homey.

"Angry mob?!" cried Marzipan, Homestar Jr. and Homezipan together.

"Yeah, they've got torches and picket signs!" exclaimed Strong Sad.

"Baddette nearly set my hair on fire," Forlornelle sulked.

"AaAaAaAaA've got some bad feelings about that force," said Homsar, who spoke in random gibberish that very few could understand.

"Come in, quickly!" said Homestar Jr., "What are we waiting for, Decemberween?"

The ninesome quickly went inside ad Marzipan locked the door behind them.

"Thanks for savin' our skin back there," gasped Champeen.

"But you stiwl have youw skin on," said Homezipan.

"It's an expression," explained Homestar Jr.

"Oh."

Then Homestar walked in. "Oh, what is this?" he asked, "Awe we having a swumber pawty in the aftewnoon?"

"No, father, it's a long story," said Homestar Jr. Marzipan looked out of the window curtains, squinted her eyes, and gasped loudly.

"Oh, mother of Strong Badia… Everybody, come here!"

The others joined Marzipan at the window, wondering what the fuss was about. Nobody noticed Starzipan carefully hide herself in the closet and locking it up from inside.

"What's the problem, Mrs. Runner?" asked Palm-Palm.

"It seems we've got company!"

The "company" turned out to be everybody else living in Free Country USA, except Specs, Crawford and his minions, being led by Blade! Some held lit torches and others were carrying picket signs, each reading something angry about Specs.

"Get that girl! Get that girl!" they shouted.

"Get my sister! Get my sister!" Blade chanted.

Everyone in the house gasped, including Homsar; even Forlornelle was less sad than horrified.

"Oh, crap," said Homestar Jr. quietly. Poor Milestone fainted from shock. The angry mob stopped outside the house, most raising their fists (except those without visible arms) in unison.

"Give us Specs! Give us Specs!" they shouted.

"What awe we gonna do?!" wailed Homezipan.

"We're dead meat!" cried Palm-Palm. Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. were running around and wailing in fright.

"Oh, we'we doomed!" sobbed Homestar, "THE GOOD TIMES AWE OVEW!"

"Everybody calm down!" shouted Marzipan, "I think I have an idea…"

* * *

While Homestar Jr. and Homezipan set to work making a "fake" Specs, Marzipan made arrangements on how to get her family and guests out of the house to safety.

"They can overlook the backdoor if we plan this just right," she said, "we run fast as we can away from the back door in a straight path, a wrong turn – so to speak – might lead to a few of us being dead meat."

Marzipan arranged for everyone to leave in pairs; Pom-Pom and Forlornelle first, then followed by Miley and Champeen, Milestone and Palm-Palm, Homsar and Strong Sad, Homeschool and Marzistar, Homestar and Marzipan Jr., Marzipan and Starzipan (wherever she was), and lastly, Homestar Jr. and Homezipan

"We're coaxing her out," Homestar Jr. lied to the crowd; it was clear the crowd was getting restless and impatient, not to mention angrier.

The "fake" Specs was made of pillows, marker, pipe cleaners formed to the shape of glasses, a brown wig, a spare dress from Homezipan, four wooden poles, and spare shoes from Homestar Jr.

"Bettew huwwy," panted Homezipan anxiously, "if we'we not quick enough…"

"Try not to think about it," gasped Homestar Jr., "mother, we're nearly finished!" he shouted to the kitchen door.

"Okay," Marzipan shouted back, "I've just sent off Homestar with Marzy; I'll go next with Starzipan, if she comes, and then you two."

"Right."

At last, "Specs" was complete, and Homestar Jr. opened the door, and motioned for the crowd to wait.

"All right," he said, pulling a realistic expression of defeat, "you got us, and here's Specs; we had no other choice."

He motioned over to Homezipan, bringing in "fake" Specs, who then quickly threw "her" to the crowd.

"Suckews!" cried Homezipan, then she and Homestar Jr. quickly shut and locked the door, then ran off to the kitchen.

"It's just pillows and fake-looking crap!" exclaimed Bubs.

"They tried to trick us!" sneered Star Bad.

"What are you lot waiting for?!" cried Blade, "Kill them! They're siding with Specs; they deserve death!"

* * *

"Mother, we must go!" gasped Homestar Jr.

"But Starzipan hasn't come-" Marzipan began.

"WET'S JUST GO!" screamed Homezipan, "They'we gonna kiww us!"

Without thinking, Marzipan and her two oldest children quickly ran out of the door, locking it behind them, and ran like the wind. As they were doing so, Strong Mad knocked down the front door with his fist.

"Hey! Where are they?" exclaimed Strong Bad.

"Search all over," said Blade, "we can't leave a stone unturned!"

So the angry mob set about trashing the house, trying to find those who believed Specs, without any luck. Nobody noticed Starzipan come out of the closet and make an escape out of the front door, hiding behind the Crawford-Hordern residence.

After a few minutes, the interior of the Runner house was completely trashed; furniture wrecked, appliances destroyed, even personal belongings lay on the floor, somehow staying in once piece. Even Carol was an unfortunate victim of the trashings.

"Nobody here," said Know-it-Ally, "they're clever sneaks, that lot…"

"_Oui_," agreed Violet Blue.

"No matter," said Blade, "we'll get them some other time. They're probably better off dead anyway."

So everyone went home in disappointment. Blade stayed behind, and when everyone was out of sight, she walked up to an open window of her home.

"Those who believe in Specs have run off," she said to the window.

"No matter," said the voice, which was revealed to be Deep Claw, "since I've scared off Specs and you've scared off those who don't believe she's a criminal, we'll begin the next phase of our plan!"

* * *

**What is Crawford's next phase of his evil plan? What will happen to Homestar Jr. et al.? Will Specs be proven innocent or will she be imprisoned? Find out in the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 7: Truths and Lies Revealed

**Here's chapter seven, only completed just today!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Truths and Lies Revealed**

Specs didn't know how long she'd been running, but it didn't matter as long as she was far away from getting beat up and/or arrested for a crime she didn't commit. She was beginning to tire out and felt like he had run across half the state of Texas.

"…I… should… be safe… here…" she gasped.

Because she didn't care where she'd end up, Specs had found herself in the spooky woods. When she caught her breath, she found out where she was.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped, "Homestar Jr. told me about this place; he's right that it _is_ spooky, probably spookier than he says it is!"

Then from out of nowhere, came a little green armless creature with yellow eyes with red pupils in them.

"Ah! Goblin!" Specs shrieked, and ran like the wind again leaving the Goblin to do a little dance to nobody in particular.

Specs ran until she realized she was heading for a cliff. She tried to stop, but the momentum of her body dragged her over the edge.

"_HEEEEELLLLP!_" she yelled, thinking her life had ended prematurely…

* * *

"Did you hear that?" asked Marzipan.

"Heaw what?" asked Homestar.

"That scream in the distance?"

"Pwobabwy the wind," Homestar shrugged. They and the rest of their friends and family where in another part of the spooky woods, having had a good run far away from the Runner house.

"At least we're safe for now," panted Milestone.

"But for how long?" asked Palm-Palm sarcastically.

"We must figure out some way to get back to town without getting killed," advised Strong Sad.

"Killed?!" Forlornelle nearly shrieked, "We're all gonna die!" She almost burst into tears.

"No we're not," said Homestar Jr. firmly, "we have to get to the bottom of this and figure out what sort of cruel person would pull this off and blame it all on Specs."

"And as if it wasn't our first clue," Milestone replied sarcastically. Homeschool smacked him on the back of the head, telling him to be quiet.

Before anyone could say anything, there was the sound of a twig snapping and footsteps.

_Who's there?_ Pom-Pom bubbled, but there was no answer.

Someone walked up behind the big Pom, who felt a strange presence around him. Without warning, Pom-Pom swung round and knocked over the person with a single spinning kick.

The person went flying into the air, and landed on her back with a dull thud, before groaning in pain.

"Restraint, Pom-Pom," said Marzipan, walking up to the stranger, "I'll see who this is…" She knelt down and spoke to her. "My name is Marzipan," she said in an innocent tone, but also unsure if the stranger could be trusted, "what is your business in the woods, and more importantly… who _are_ you?"

"My apologies for intrusion," said the stranger, who was in the dark, "I am a friend; I am looking for my long lost sister, Shelley Millicent 'Specs' Hordern…"

Homestar Jr. stared in surprise. "Can it be…?"

The stranger stood up, revealing a young woman at fifteen-going-on-sixteen, in a long brown dress with a white upper chest area, red shoes, blond hair almost in a mullet style with hints of orange, and a large monocle over her left eye.

"I am Specs' _true_ sister… Monocle."

* * *

Not too far away, Specs was lying down on what felt like a bed of moss. Miraculously, she survived the fall and landed into some bushes, but it made her lose consciousness almost instantly. How she ended up from there to here, she had no idea.

"Specs, is that really you?" asked a male voice.

"Where are these voices coming from?" Specs groaned, "And who are you?"

"Don't you remember?" the voice chuckled. Specs turned to face whoever was speaking to her; he had scruffy brown hair which was slightly graying, a beard and mustache, his clothes were tattered, he had ruined black shoes, and his glasses were dirty. Specs wondered how he could see out of them, but didn't bother asking him about it just yet.

"Specs, I am your father."

* * *

"So you're Monocle," exclaimed Homestar Jr., "and Specs was right about you…"

"Awe you a hewmit?" asked Homezipan.

"To you, I might be," Monocle smiled, "but I've been with many families prior to, the last family I was with, they were a nasty bunch," she continued, frowning, "eventually, I was tired of being with them, and by the start of the month, I had left. What is a big group like you doing here? But first, I need to know your names."

"Ah, yes," said Homestar Jr., "I'm Homestar Jr., by the way…" And soon everyone had introduced themselves to Monocle. After they were done, Homestar Jr. explained everything from Specs', Blade's, and Crawford's arrival right up to the angry mob.

* * *

Specs stared at Shade in disbelief.

"But… but Crawford?" she asked, "How…"

"He stole you, your sister Monocle and your mother Oriana from me when you were a baby," Shade explained, "he seemed angry about something, and I didn't know what for. He wanted Oriana as his wife, but I refused to let her go. Crawford refused to take 'no' for an answer, and threatened that if I didn't leave the island, I'd have my heart cut out.

"I cared for my family, and wanted to live, but indecision was no answer. I made a run for it, or at least what _he_ thought, and I wanted to see you again, but I couldn't for fear of my life."

Specs didn't know what to say. She was angry that Shade would leave like that, but also understanding as to why he did so.

"Mom… she died when I was a baby…" she tried to deflect her anger with a statement. It worked.

"I can't figure out what's happened to her," Shade admitted, "the only way to discover what happened to loved ones is to find Helen Angelica."

"Who's she?" Specs asked.

"Helen Angelica is a legend amongst the island," Shade began, "many people say that she lives at Steep Deep Mountain, close by the King's castle and these woods. If one should ever discover this woman, she will tell you all about what has happened."

* * *

"…and so, here we are," finished Homestar Jr., "if you don't mind me saying, do you happen to know-?"

"I've been keeping in the shadows since Specs and her 'fake family' came to town," Monocle explained, "I noticed a girl who looked like Specs, but had a different hairstyle and nasty looking teeth." The four teens knew who Monocle was talking about, but said nothing as the young woman continued, "At night, I would often eavesdrop on our 'father's' plans with the Specs lookalike, and from what I heard, they were planning to do some bad things and pin it on Specs. I overheard her a few nights ago, moping about how you, Homestar Jr., were luckier than her with a loving family. I even saw the lookalike with an armless girl with blond hair…"

"It can't be Homezipan," said Milestone, then looked at his cousin, "can it?"

"Why wouwd I do such a thing wike that?" Homezipan protested in defense.

"Starzipan!" Homestar Jr. exclaimed, "I had a feeling she wouldn't keep to her promise!"

"She _what?!_" the adults, and even the twins, Homsar and Miley Homey, exclaimed in shock.

"I suspect she lied to mother about being good, and now I see it's all starting to make sense – Starzipan fakes innocence, she goes out of the house, Specs gets blamed, the town is vandalized, and what of Crawford? Last some of us saw of him, he was taken to the basement of his home, then noises go on, and they stop by Sunday night."

"He's been relived, in a way," said Monocle, "it's difficult to explain…"

"One way or another, I think cous is close to solving the puzzle!" exclaimed Miley happily.

"But we need more proof," said Strong Sad, "it's not enough."

"When I see Starzipan next," said Marzipan, who was looking quite angry, "I'll give her a punishment she'll never forget!"

"Spawe me the thought…" Homezipan shuddered quietly.

_We've still got the issue with getting the rest of the townsfolk in trusting us again,_ Pom-Pom pointed out.

"Pom-Pom's right," said Homeschool, "what _can_ we do?"

"We can twy to get outta hewe," suggested Homestar.

"It's a start," said Champeen, "there's no point standing round here."

* * *

Back in town, great efforts were made to repair the damages that "Specs" caused. Strong Mad, The Cheat and the Bads were doing what they could to fix Strong Badia back to its former glory.

"My country has fallen several times before," declared Strong Bad, "but each time, we have rebuilt it! We always rebuild, we never leave a man behind, and we're Strong Badians!"

Unfortunately, no one seemed to take any notice.

"Am I the only guy who is inspired by my motivational speeches?" Strong Bad asked with annoyance. Before anyone could answer his question, Strong Bad someone whack him from the back of the head, and he fell face first, unconscious on the ground with a thud.

The Cheat squeaked something in shock, causing the others to turn and face Strong Bad, lying on his front.

"**STRONG BAD!**" yelled Strong Mad.

"What's happened to dad?!" exclaimed Star Bad.

"Whoever's done this will get a kick where it _really_ hurts!" growled Baddette, cracking her "knuckles".

Before she could even react, someone mysterious kicked the Cheat, sending the little yellow animal flying towards Baddette's head, knocking both out cold.

"**WHO COULD HURT THE CHEAT?!**" Strong Mad yelled again.

"What in crap's name is happening?!" snapped Star Bad, and before he knew it, Strong Mad received an extra hard whack from the back, and he fell to the ground with a loud crash, thankfully not crushing anyone in his vicinity.

"All right, this is just gettin' freakin' crazy round here!" snapped Star Bad, "If anyone dares to attack me, I'll—"

"You'll what, little man?" a Russian accent asked from behind. Star Bad looked up and saw Steel Man, his steel gray teeth baring and muscles clenched.

"Run, little runt!"

Star Bad, not willing to get hurt, ran like the wind. As he ran, he could barely hear some other men talking and picking up his fallen comrades.

* * *

Meanwhile, efforts were being made to make repairs at the celebration grounds not far from the King's castle. Dijjery-Doo, Trivia Time (both animals had somehow not been involved in the angry mob), Violet Blue, the Queen of Town, the King and his men, as well as some other townsfolk were involved in helping with repairs.

"_Mon dieu, _this could take a long time," remarked Violet.

"It'd have gone smoothly if not for Specs," the Knight said to the Blacksmith.

"Agreed," said the Blacksmith. There were a coupled of thumps as the Hornblower, the Cleric, and the Chef fell to the ground.

The Poopsmith held a sign which read "Did you hear that?"

"Oh, it must be a meal being overcooked," the King said, oblivious to what had happened.

"I better check," said the Queen, rushing to the castle.

No sooner had she done that, there were several more thuds, as Mr. Bland, Señor Havin' A Little Trouble, the Umpire, and the Robot were knocked out. In the case of the Robot, he was shut down by being unplugged from an outside plug socket.

"What in ze world?" gasped Violet, "What iz going on?!"

"Who knows what's happening?" read the Poopsmith's sign.

"Is my chicken fricassee ready?" asked the King hopefully,

"It's ready alright, Kingy," a voice called, and from out of nowhere, the King of Town was knocked out as well.

"Your Highness?!" read another of the Poopsmith's signs. He held another sign saying, "What's happened?!"

There were more knockouts until Violet Blue was left.

"_Sacre bleu!_" she exclaimed, "How can zis be happening?!"

She then felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and spun around to reveal…

"Brenna? What a surprise! Do you have any idea what iz going on?"

Blade smirked quietly before answering.

"As a matter of fact, _mon ami_… I do…"

Without warning, Blade exposed her big mouth and sharp teeth, which gave the French girl a big scare.

"_Merde sainte!_" shrieked Violet, and ran fast as she could.

"Run, while you can," laughed Blade, "because by the time you come back, you'll become prisoner to Deep Claw!"

* * *

"Have you lot heard something?" asked Bubs. He, Rosemary, Jack-Jack and Buzz were finishing up repair work on the stand.

"Must be progress," Rosemary shrugged.

"If it comes from the celebration fields, they're doing a good job, I guess," said Buzz.

Then there came three more whacks as he and the two adults were also knocked out.

"Oh no!" cried Jack-Jack, "What can I do?!"

Before she could react, she was pied on both sides of her face, and before anyone could knock her out, she ran with her face covered in pie filling.

* * *

Meanwhile, the track was having attention to by Coach Z, Coach V, and Know-it-Ally.

"Accordin' to mah calculations," said Ally, "the bleechers are made from aluminum, too weak a metal to make them out of, ye should make them from wood. The track ought ta be made from tarmac and not dirt, use paint instead of chalk. Lockers and showers need plenty of attention tae on hygiene…"

"Can you say it in English?" asked Coach V.

"Whort were ya seryin'?" asked Coach Z.

Ally got offended by their questions. "Says a man that can't even say the wurd 'job' proparlee!" she retorted.

Before anybody could retort, the two coaches were knocked out cold.

"Och, what iz all this?!" demanded Ally, "Show yerself!"

"You got it, little girl," said a voice.

Ally turned to find Mad Hatt standing behind her. The crazed minion laughed manically, which was enough for Ally to make her getaway.

* * *

The next morning, Specs was fast asleep when she heard some voices.

"Wook! It's hew!"

"Will she still trust us?"

_Shh. She's waking!_

Specs groaned as she stirred, and when her vision became clear after putting on her glasses, she saw who had been watching her.

"Specs! You're alright!" Homestar Jr., without warning, ran up to Specs and hugged her tightly.

"Homestar Jr.?!" gasped Specs, "What are-?"

"Long story," said Homestar Jr., letting go, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Running away," muttered Specs, "nobody's gonna accept me back into society just because of crimes I didn't commit."

"Before you ask, she did tell me," said Shade, getting the others' attention.

"Who is this hobo?" asked Homestar.

"Homestar, shush!" scolded Marzipan quietly, "Sorry about my husband; he's not the sharpest knife, let's put it that way."

"I've heard worse," chuckled Shade, and introduced himself, followed by everybody else introducing themselves, bar Monocle.

"We've found someone you might know, Specs," added Homestar Jr. Before she could answer, Homestar Jr. and Milestone moved aside to show a girl Specs knew all those years ago…

"Monocle?"

"Specs, it really is you!"

The two sisters hugged each other tightly, joined by Shade.

"Our family's been broken for thirteen years, and we're back together again," smiled Shade.

The others didn't say anything; they were happy (even Strong Sad and Forlornelle, who had shed a small tear in her eye) for Specs, she had reunited with her true family.

* * *

Violet didn't know how long she'd been running, but it came to a stop when she ran into Ally… literally.

"Och, watch where ye're goin'!"

"Ally!" gasped Violet, "Never expected to find you here."

"Nor did I," the Scottish girl replied ruefully, dusting herself off.

"Seems like all of us are here!" said a young female voice. The two European girls turned to find Jack-Jack right by them, still with pie filling on her face.

"You've got pie filling all over your face," Violet pointed out.

"Oh, so I do," said Jack-Jack, wiping it off her face.

"Ah, great; just what I need! Stuck in these woods with three girls!"

Ally groaned as she and Violet and Jack-Jack turned to face Star Bad.

"Ye bein' here was also what I needed," she said sarcastically.

"Does anyone know why we're all here?" asked Jack-Jack.

"I was run off by a giant guy with gray teeth and Russian accent," said Star Bad, "he must've been eight foot tall!"

"I ran off after seeing some wacko with nae limbs, but had hands and feet, and his head was split in two of sorts," remarked Ally.

"You'll never believe zis," said Violet, "I saw Brenna, and she showed me a big mouth with scary teeth!"

"Really, she did that?" asked Ally.

"It's true; and _duex_ words to describe it – ugg-lee!"

"Who were ye scared off bah, Jack-Jack?"

"Um… I didn't see him… or her…" the clown girl admitted.

"Who could be behind all of zis madness?" asked Violet Blue.

"That Specs!" Ally snarled, "I have a sneakin' feelin' she is tha one beheend this mayhem that's been happenin'!"

"How do we know?" asked Jack-Jack, "We haven't heard it from her point of view yet."

"I think Jack-Jack's got a point," said Violet, "we should be reasonable…"

"Are ye that dim?! Have ye forgotten what she called us?"

"No, I haven't," scowled Star Bad, "I want to give her a good beating!"

"For once, we agree," muttered Ally.

* * *

Meanwhile, Deep Claw's minions and Blade were bringing the last sacks with their victims inside to the Crawford-Hordern residence basement.

"This is the last of them, father," Blade said, carrying a sack the shape of Strong Bad and The Cheat.

"Excellent," said Deep Claw, "we are now a step closer to having our ultimate revenge on this town!"

"We're missing the Runner family, the Poms, and a few others," said Blade.

"No matter," said Deep Claw, "when they _do_ return, do not hesitate to capture them!"

"Yes, father; we will not disappoint you."

"Now _that_ is what I _love_ to hear!"

* * *

**Originally, Star Bad was going to be knocked out along with The Cheat and not Baddette. I then realized, "the title is the Kids of FCUSA, so why should he not play a role?"**

**Now we're finally introduced to Monocle and Shade, and the truth has just about been revealed... so far. What will happen to everyone in FCUSA? Will Specs ever get trust from Ally, Violet, Jack-Jack, and even Star Bad? Where has Starzipan gotten to? Will the celebrations ever take place? And why on earth do I keep leaving you readers on cliffhangers?!**

**Jokes aside, wait and see!**


	9. Chapter 8: New Allies

**Here we go for chapter numero ocho! There's just two more chapters left, and they'll decide who wins and who loses.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: New Allies**

"Ugh… Man, that was a hard one I took… What the… Why am I chained to a wall?"

Strong Bad's vision cleared, and saw he was in a dark room, chained to the wall by his wrists.

"Strong Bad?" a voice called out, "Is thert you?"

"Coach Z?! What are you doing here?"

_I was wondering that as well! I'm caged with Strong Mad!_

"**LET ME OUT! LET ME OOOUUUUT!**"

Strong Bad knew that squeaking and angry yelling all too well. Soon he began to hear more voices he knew as well.

"What the heck are we all doing here anyway?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Glad you asked," said a voice.

Without warning, the lights turned on, causing several to wince and groan. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, Strong Bad could see nearly everyone he could chained to the walls, as well as Trivia Time and Dijjery-Doo in cages, plus The Cheat and Strong Mad sharing their own cage.

"Surprised, aren't you?" said X, who was with Stringier and The Animal, "It looked small on the outside, but on the inside, below the first floor, is a really huge basement!"

"There's equipment of sorts," remarked Baddette, then quickly recalled what Homestar Jr. said to her and her companions a few weeks prior. "So dork boy wasn't joking…"

"Of course he isn't!" said Bubba, flexing his way into the room, "I bet he always tells the truth if it hurts, don't it?"

"How do you know him?" asked Bubs cautiously.

"Ask our bosses," said Shov, followed by Steel Man, Mad Hatt, and…

"Brenna?" gasped Rosemary.

"Not Brenna; I am Blade!" The mutant girl exposed her teeth, making most of the townsfolk gasp in fright.

"And here comes the big man himself… Deep Claw!"

There were some murmurs before Deep Claw walked in.

"Darren Crawford?" exclaimed some of the townsfolk.

"Darren Crawford is dead," the half-cyborg man snarled, "I am now Deep Claw! I've received this form a few days ago after a fight on the stone bridge!"

"So that explains why we haven't seen you for the last few days," remarked Coach V.

"And had it not been for the big fat yellow blob and those meddling twerps," snarled Deep Claw, "I'd have successfully finished off my weakling daughter and that idiot athlete's son, to avenge being made a laughingstock at CGNU, and to extract revenge on Homestar Runner and Marzipan!"

The good townsfolk looked at the cyborg with shocked, awkward looks.

"Erm, perhaps I revealed too much… Henchpeople!"

Without warning, Deep Claw and his minions left the room, turned off the lights and shut the door. As they did so, some yellowish clouds filled the room, making most of the townsfolk cough.

"Crawford, you snake!" snarled Baddette, "I will so kill you if I get out of here!" Those were her last words before passing out.

"I hope… my sister's okay…" Buzz coughed weakly, "she must be… so scared… and alone…"

* * *

"You think it's her, brain girl?" asked Jack-Jack curiously. Star Bad, and the two European girls wanted to get back at Specs for "vandalism", and dragged Jack-Jack into this, to the clown girl's confusion.

"I keep tellin' ye, it's Know-it-Ally, or Ally for short," the Scottish girl snapped in irritation, "and yes, I bahlieve it's her."

"Can I beat her up first?" asked Star Bad eagerly.

"_Excusez-moi_, but it's '_dames __première_', _merci beaucoup!_" retorted Violet.

"Don't you mean, 'ladies first'?" Star Bad retorted.

"It is _ze same thing!_" Violet nearly shrieked.

"Would both of ye _shut it?!_" snapped Ally, almost at the top of her lungs, "Ye're givin' me a headache and I've nearly lost concentration!"

"Let's just get on with it!" And without warning, Star Bad ran towards where Specs was speaking to her friends. He was quickly followed by Violet and Ally. Jack-Jack, cluelessly, followed a few moments after.

Most of them were surprised to see Star Bad.

"Here we go," sighed Homestar Jr. in a flat tone.

"Come here, you yellow-dressed, four eyed vandal!" Star Bad yelled, and before he could attack, Homestar Jr. quickly shoved Specs out of harm's way, knocking her and himself to the ground, and not without tripping Star Bad over, who fell flat on his face.

"Arrgh!" cried Star Bad, "You did that on purpose!"

"I know I did so," Homestar Jr. gave a slight smirk.

"There ye are!"

Specs felt herself being lifted by Ally and Violet, both girls staring at her with angry looks.

"Alright, I think I get the message," Specs gasped, "but can we not solve this with violence?"

"I think not," said Violet crossly.

"And now we'll finish what we started!" declared Ally.

"No, you shall not harm my sister in any way possible!"

Both stopped and turned to face Monocle, who looked at them quite crossly.

"How can _ye_ be her sister?" asked Ally, not convinced.

"The only sister zis girl has is Brenna, and she's got scary teeth, I tell you," added Violet.

"She is a _clone_," explained Monocle firmly, "I _am_ her sister, and this man you see before yourselves if hers and my _real_ father…"

"Exactly," finished Shade, "I am Shade, Specs' true father; Crawford stole my daughters when Specs was a baby." And he and Monocle went off explaining everything to Ally and Violet.

* * *

As some clearing up was being done, nobody noticed somebody resembling Homezipan spying on them…

"Come on," Starzipan said quietly, "go and beat up Specs if you must…"

But as Shade and Monocle spoke, Ally and Violet listened, even Jack-Jack and Star Bad listened too. Nothing else happened, and Starzipan got impatient.

"Can you just get on with it already?!"

That was a big mistake; everyone turned and saw where she stood. Starzipan tried to make a run for it, but she tripped over a tree root, and rolled down a hill, sitting on her butt with legs apart right in front of…

"M-mom?"

Marzipan looked down crossly at Starzipan. Everyone else stared angrily at the selfish girl, even the little twins, Homezipan, and Jack-Jack were angry.

"What? What are you all looking at me for?"

"Don't play stupid with us!" snapped Palm-Palm.

"You know what you did!" agreed Milestone.

"You and Blade framed me for crimes I didn't commit!" shouted Specs.

"Ye made us believe a stupid lie!" added Know-it-Ally.

"You caused an angry mob to run us out of town!" said Homestar Jr., almost as angry as Marzipan was, "I never thought I would say this, Starzipan – this is the stupidest thing you have ever done! You were stupid then, and you're stupid now! I swear for the love of crap; _what goes on in your thick skull-?!_"

"Settle down," soothed Marzipan, "I think you got your point across."

"Sorry, mother; I just got a little mad…"

"I know."

"You little brat!" sneered Star Bad, "Making us fall for such a stupid scheme!"

"We've all done stupid things," said Violet, "but-"

"_But,_ none as awful as what ye did, ya freakin' little-!" Ally began.

"I think we get it, Ally," interrupted Jack-Jack.

"Lies do more harm than good, you know," Monocle said firmly.

"You'we a disgwace!" Starzipan's sisters told her. (Except Marzistar, who said it without speech impediments.)

"Oh, would you shut up?!" snapped Starzipan, "I think I got the message already from you losers!"

"I would not say it in front of mother, if I were you," Homestar Jr. said quietly.

He was right to warn her; everyone could sense the mood and saw Marzipan's face was red as a beetroot.

"Starzipan Myleene Runner!" she yelled furiously, "I am very, _very_ disappointed in you, young lady! You went back on your promise, you framed Specs for a crime she didn't commit, you ran off when we needed you, and you tried to hide from the punishment you're about to receive! _Do you have anything to say to yourself?!_"

Starzipan didn't answer for a few moments, but then she replied, "I'm surprised they didn't go after me."

"Perhaps a simple 'I'm sorry' wouldn't be that hard?!" Homestar Jr. scowled, before receiving a look from Marzipan, and then quickly apologized.

"Sorry is not enough to save you from this punishment, Starzipan," Marzipan said firmly, "I warned you not to blow your last chance, but you did in more ways than one! I will be sending you off to Stark Hawk, Canada, and maybe the Troubled Girls' Youth Society will shape you up while you're there!"

Starzipan instantly went from acting stubborn to looking frightened in an instant.

"No, you can't do this!" she protested, but it did no good.

"Don't bothew gwovewing, wittwe missy," said Homestar, "you awe gwounded!"

Everyone, even Strong Sad, looked at him in shock; Homestar being intelligent? How did that happen?

Once the shock wore off, Marzipan turned to Starzipan again.

"You will stay in your room until I can arrange a plane," Marzipan said firmly.

"And if anyone's askin'," said Ally, "we just barely escaped some strange men and apparently contagious knockouts."

"And I got pie on my face," added Jack-Jack.

_So it would be safe to come back to town?_ asked Pom-Pom.

"I don't know," said Homeschool, "but I suggest we split up and go in groups of two, three or four, just to be safe."

"Starzipan, _you_ are coming with me back to our house," Marzipan scolded.

_Oh, lucky me,_ Starzipan thought with sarcasm.

* * *

"Listen up, men!" said Deep Claw, "I need you lot to find the Runner family and the rest of their friends and bring them here! Beat them up or kill if you have to, _but_ bring Marzipan alive, at least! She _will_ be my wife; make _no_ mistake of that!"

"Yes, boss!" said his minions.

"What shall we do with Specs, father?" asked Blade, "Kill her or-?"

"Do what you want," said Deep Claw, "and remember – bring Marzipan here… _alive!_ If you _really_ have to destroy the rest of the town, so be it! One way or another, this town will be _mine!_"

* * *

Back in the spooky woods, Strong Sad was partnered up with Forlornelle and Homsar.

"It's good that I'm with ya, Forlornelle," said Strong Sad, "erm, depending on how you see it as 'good'."

"It'd be peaceful if not for that loony…" muttered Forlornelle.

"AaAaAaAaA'm made from spam and cheese!"

"I admit he isn't the shiniest gold coin," said Strong Sad, "but he's still my friend."

"Anyone who's friends with that guy, apart from you, must be a nutcase…"

"Well, it could be worse…"

* * *

"I dinnae believe this," muttered Ally, "with me and Violet, I had tae get stuck with… of all people, a short-butt and a clumsy ginger…"

"Hey!"

"Not cool!"

Milestone and Palm-Palm were teamed up with Ally and Violet. Feelings were pretty much mixed.

"Don't be mean to them," insisted Violet, "they're nice _garcons_ if you know them."

Neither Palm-Palm nor Milestone knew what "garcons" meant, but were flattered by Violet's comment.

"Anyway," continued Violet, "we've got to find a way to get back to town without something ugly that could happen…"

"You mean dea-?" Milestone began.

"Don't get me started on it!" cried Violet, "It makes me sick just thinking about it!"

"Sorry," groaned Milestone.

"What if we come across some big boys?" asked Palm-Palm with worry, "That'll be a problem for a small guy like me…"

"Size isn't always everything," said Violet sweetly, "it can also be a blessing. Besides, I've got no interest in big boys that show off – I like flirting with average Joes meself."

"But who'd go with someone who's short, and yet their father is loved by many girls?"

Violet didn't answer; she looked away just so Palm-Palm wouldn't see her blush.

"Och, dinna be tellin' me…!"

"What?" asked Milestone.

"She must be in love…"

"Have you a crush on someone?" Milestone teased.

"Dinna be silly!" snapped Ally, and looked away; she was annoyed that he had to ask, of all things, _that_ question.

"_Sacre bleu_, what iz this?" Violet exclaimed, looking over to where Steel Man, Bubba, Stringier, and Shov stood, playing a round of poker.

"Nae so lood!" Ally hissed, "How can we get past these goons?"

"_Hey, bozos!_" shouted Milestone, and threw a rock at Steel Man's head.

"YAAAAGH!"

"Ye blithering idiot!" snapped Ally, "What were ye thinkin', honestly?!"

"I thought he'd be knocked out!" protested Milestone.

"You'll get knocked out soon enough!" snarled Shov.

"So you better run if you can!" taunted Stringier. The four teens ran… fast. Palm-Palm, however, could hop instead of run, and he used trees best as he could as his defenders.

* * *

"Uncwe Homeschoow?"

"Yes, Marzy?"

"Wiww we evew get home?"

"I think we will," said Marzistar, "won't we?"

"Of course we will, girls," assured Homeschool kindly, "when the invasions stop, we'll be safe and sound."

He and the twins quietly crouched down behind a bush, not far from town, hoping no baddies would catch them at any given moment.

* * *

"Why did I have to get stuck with you?" Star Bad complained to Miley.

"Everybody else was picked," Miley insisted, "hardly my fault at all!"

"Can we stop this arguing?" groaned Champeen, "I swear, you're acting like little children!"

"Her more so," grumbled Star Bad.

"And _her_ has a name, thank you," retorted Miley.

* * *

"Thiwteen yeaws? That is a vewy, _vewy_ wong time to be sepawated!"

"I know, it is," said Specs, "but we're together again, and it's all that matters."

"You said it, sister," agreed Monocle.

"Do you think looking out for some suspicious people matters?" asked Jack-Jack. The three girls looked to where Jack-Jack pointed; there was Blade, giving orders to X, Mad Hatt, and The Animal.

"Find this so-called sister of mine, and then we gut her like a sheep!" Blade said.

The Animal made growling noises, as if saying he understood. Mad Hatt laughed as well.

"I can tell you're excited to get it done with," X said to Mad Hatt, who laughed again, agreeing.

"Ah, crap," groaned Specs, "what do we do?"

"I'm not ending up being face to face with Fweaky Face again!" groaned Homezipan, but she said it out loud.

"Who were you calling 'Fweaky Face'?" Blade snarled, baring her teeth.

"Oh, _that's_ freaky," gasped Monocle.

"I think I just had a wee," whimpered Jack-Jack. The other three girls groaned in disgust.

"We've found my sister sooner than we thought," sneered Blade, "and she's with three friends too. No matter – kill them all!"

"Aww of us?!" gasped Homezipan.

"I'm wetting myself again," Jack-Jack whimpered again.

"Hey! It's just _me_ you want!" Specs called, and ran fast as her legs could let her, followed by the other three girls.

"What awe you doing?!" cried Homezipan.

"I think I know what she's up to!" exclaimed Monocle. Homezipan looked back and saw the four villains chasing them.

"I think it's a smawt idea to _WUN!_"

* * *

"Awe you suwe this 'Hewen Angewica' is weal?" asked Homestar.

"I thought it was one of those bedtime stories mother used to tell me and Homezipan when we were toddlers," said Homestar Jr.

"This is far from a bedtime story, my friends," said Shade. He was leading the two Homestars, as well as Pom-Pom, to Steep Deep Mountain. The other three were familiar with the mountain as Homestar made a death-defying slide down the eighty-three degree slope back in 2006, when Homestar Jr. was only ten-going-on-eleven.

"That was extremely scary from what I saw," Homestar Jr. shuddered, remembering, "and seriously, father; _please_ don't do anything stupid like that again…"

"Aww wite, mini me; I undewstand."

"His same old way of calling me," muttered Homestar Jr.

They soon approached a slab of rock on the side of the mountain, and surrounding it were many more smaller rocks.

_Right, this could take a while to move,_ said Pom-Pom, _is this the right place?_

"It is indeed," said Shade. The four men set to work moving the smaller rocks out of the way.

Once done, they carefully moved the giant slab aside, revealing what appeared to be a small cave. In the middle was a stone pedestal with something yellow and glowing.

"Oh, wow! A gowden mawshmawwow!" cried Homestar, and tried to go for it, but Pom-Pom held him back.

_We don't know what it could be, so don't do anything stupid!_ Homestar "awed" in disappointment in reply.

Suddenly, the yellow thing began to shine brightly, nearly blinding everyone.

"Holy crap, that is bright!" gasped Homestar Jr.

It kept on shining, and when the light died down, everyone could see what had been summoned; it was a young woman with white skin, white hair with a curl on her forehead, a white dress, white shoes, a pink bow, a yellow ring above her head, and shining blue eyes. She also held a golden harp in her hands.

"Oh… my… gosh…" gasped Homestar Jr. in awe.

* * *

**So what do you think Shade, Pom-Pom and the two Homestars discovered? And will their friends escape Deep Claw's minions? And what will become of Starzipan in the end? Find out in the up and coming penultimate chapter of "The Kids of Free Country USA"!**


	10. Chapter 9: Strengths and Weaknesses

**Here we go for chapter number nine! Sorry if the title didn't make any sense; it was all that I could think of.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses**

"For the twelfth time, I said I was sorry!" snapped Milestone as he, Palm-Palm, Ally, and Violet ran.

"Joost forget aboot it and run!" retorted Ally.

"They're catching up!" exclaimed Palm-Palm, who was still leaping tree to tree.

"_Sacre bleu!_" Violet gasped again.

Before anyone could react, Bubba got hold of Violet and Stringier got hold of Ally, then the villains split up with Steel Man joining Bubba and Shov joining Stringier.

"Oh, bother," groaned Palm-Palm, landing next to Milestone.

"Let's split," said Milestone, "I'll take on that backwards man and skinny dude, you handle the big dudes."

"What?!" Before Palm-Palm could continue, Milestone ran off.

"Oh, great; _me_, handling two guys that are _far_ bigger than me. Oh well – must rescue Violet, I suppose…"

And he bounced back up to the trees, chasing after the two burly men.

* * *

After a few minutes, Homeschool and the twins couldn't find any henchmen.

"I don't think anyone's coming," said Marzistar.

"Is it safe now?" asked Marzipan Jr.

"Might be," said Homeschool, "let's go."

They stood up, and with the two girls in his (non-existent) arms, Homeschool ran quickly, but safely as he could, to the Runner house.

* * *

"Wh… who awe you?" asked Homestar to the mysterious woman.

"My name is Helen Angelica," said the white woman.

"So… the story's true…" said Homestar Jr. quietly.

"We come to you at Free Country USA's darkest hour," said Shade, "an evil man is invading their town, and an innocent girl has been framed."

"I know of this, Shade," said Helen, "I can see everything even in this cave."

_You can?_ bubbled Pom-Pom.

"Telepathy and a crystal ball," Helen explained, "they're my window of the town."

"How is telepathy used by you?" asked Homestar Jr., "If you don't mind me asking…"

"I can tell how others are feeling by the noises of wind; a gentle gush tells me that someone may be sad or in pain, a harsh gush implies anger."

Then the crystal ball began to flash an image of four girls being chased.

"It's your sister Homezipan, her friend Jack-Jack, your friend Specs and her sister Monocle," explained Helen, "they're being chased by four of Deep Claw's minions…"

* * *

"We just can't run forever," panted Jack-Jack, "I feel faint…"

"Girls are not weak!" gasped Monocle, "We must keep going…"

But they came to a dead end, right before a moat filled with water.

"Cwap," moaned Homezipan, "now what? Twapped wike wats!"

"You're now ours!" Blade snarled, and hurled a short sword, missing Specs and Homezipan, and planting itself in the ground.

"That could've been messy," Specs winced. Then suddenly, The Animal went wild and grabbed at Homezipan's ponytail.

"AWWWGH!" she screamed, "GET HIM OFF! GET HIM OFF!" She ran around like a crazy person!

"If only I had pies with me," groaned Jack-Jack.

"Never mind that," said Monocle, "just get that ugly beast off Homezipan!"

"You dare call him an ugly beast?" snapped X, "His name is The Animal!"

"We know he's an animal, but what _is_ his name?" asked Jack-Jack.

"His name _is_ The Animal!" X repeated bluntly. This was no time for screwing around with clowns.

While X was distracted by Jack-Jack, she didn't notice Specs knock her out with a lead pipe. Thankfully, X wasn't killed in an instant.

"Can somebody pwease hewp me?!" Homezipan shouted in agony; it was clear that The Animal had a very tight grip.

Monocle picked up the sword in the ground, and timing it just right, she ran the sword right through Homezipan's hair, sending The Animal flying into the moat.

"Oh, thanks fow that," panted Homezipan, "not a haiwcut I wanted, but okay…"

"You're welcome," smiled Monocle, "now we've got Blade and that goon with a hat to take out."

Mad Hatt scowled, then with crazed laughter, he flung his hat at Monocle and Homezipan, but both girls ducked, and the now-short haired girl kicked the villain at the knee, causing him to wince in pain, and was promptly knocked out by Monocle.

"You fools!" Blade snarled, her teeth showing yet again, "You may have defeated my minions, but you will never stop-"

Before she could finish, Blade was knocked on the back of the head by…

"Specs?!"

"_That's_ for abusing me all of those years!" Specs scowled at Blade.

"Wet's tie them up and meet up at my famiwy's house," said Homezipan.

* * *

Back on the border to the woods, Steel Man and Bubba held Violet tight in their grasp.

"_Let me go!_" Violet shrieked in anger.

"You heard her!" said a voice. The two burly men stopped as Palm-Palm stood in their way.

"Out of way, little man!" Steel Man snarled.

"Never!" said Palm-Palm firmly, "Take me on!"

The two big men laughed loudly, but Palm-Palm didn't even bat an eyelid.

"This should be easy," chuckled Bubba, cracking his knuckles, and charged at Palm-Palm, but the little Pom jumped high in the air, causing the big man to run smack into a tree trunk and lose consciousness.

"STEEL MAN ANGRY! STEEL MAN KILL!"

The big Russian man charged as well, letting go of Violet, who fell to the ground, but like he did with Bubba, Palm-Palm jumped out of the way, only sending him crashing into a large rock.

"I may be little," chuckled Palm-Palm, "but I'm not helpless!"

"Oh, _merci,_ Palm-Palm!" cried Violet, hugging Palm-Palm and kissing him repeatedly.

"Oh, it was nothing," Palm-Palm blushed, "let's go before they get up again."

* * *

Meanwhile, Strong Sad, Homsar, Forlornelle, Miley, Star Bad and Champeen had met up outside of the Runner house, waiting for the others to return.

"There's my husband!" exclaimed Champeen, as Homeschool arrived with the twins. Milestone's parents hugged after the twins were set down on the ground.

"Does anyone know where our son's gotten to?" asked Homeschool anxiously.

"No idea," Strong Sad shrugged.

"Don't know, don't care," grunted Star Bad.

"They should be okay," Miley said hopefully.

* * *

Speaking of Milestone, he was now face to face with Shov and Stringier, the latter who was now resting on a tree, dangling Ally just a few feet from the ground.

"Put mah down!" Ally demanded angrily, "Or I'll give ye what for!"

"Allow me," said Milestone, "bring it on!"

"As you wish," Shov smirked, but before he could even act, Milestone gave him a hard kick in an "awkward place", causing Shov to groan in pain.

With Shov incapacitated, Milestone ran up to a hanging Ally, then jumped and bit Stringier on his arm!

"ARRRGH!"

The baddie let go of Ally, who was quickly caught by Milestone.

"Oh, thank ye," she gasped.

"Don't thank me yet," said Milestone. Stringier was now down from the tree, and Shov had recovered, glaring angrily at Milestone.

The young boy then grabbed Stringier by his wrist, and used him to wrap himself around Shov, then tied them up with Stringier's limbs around a tree.

"Hey! Let us go!" snapped Shov.

"Let me think… nope."

"Thank ye, now let's run," said Ally.

"Right." And they ran off leaving the two henchmen stuck tied to a tree.

* * *

Back in the cave of Steep Deep Mountain, Helen had seen it all from the crystal ball.

"Your friends were clever to get out of tricky spots," she told Homestar Jr., "but it may not last for long…"

"Legend says you can tell what happened to people that have long since died," said Homestar Jr., "what _did_ happen to Specs' mother, Oriana?"

"It's a bit sad, to be honest," Helen explained, "years before, I was met by a woman in her twenties. She was depressed; she told me everything, that her daughter Specs was cloned and that Monocle was sent off to an orphanage by Darren Crawford. She didn't want Specs to grow up in corruption, and wanted to give up her soul to protect Specs. I won't go into detail of what went on."

Nobody wanted to find out, especially not Shade, then Helen continued.

"Overnight, a glow occurred in Specs' childhood home, in her crib; Oriana's soul was absorbed with hers, so there are basically two people in her…"

"That's sad," said Homestar, frowning.

_Back up a minute,_ said Pom-Pom, _if Oriana opened the entrance to the cave, how was it closed?_

"To hide the discovery," explained Helen, "to keep her disappearance quiet."

"Now we understand," said Homestar Jr.

"Forgive us for asking, but will you come and help us?" Shade asked gratefully. Helen gave a soft smile; she completely understood.

* * *

Back at the Runner house, Star Bad, Miley, the twins and the adults were still waiting for Marzipan, Homestar, Pom-Pom, Shade and the teens to show up. When Marzipan showed up (still angry) with Starzipan, the others kept quiet as Marzipan walked through the hole where the door should've been, and then went inside, Starzipan following.

Marzipan led Starzipan to her room, not taking notice to the damage initially.

"You will stay in your room until I have time for you," Marzipan said sternly, "and to ensure you do not even try to escape, I'm locking up the window and door."

And she did so too; Starzipan protested angrily, but Marzipan didn't notice. The young girl screamed and banged on the door in frustration after her mother left, but it proved fruitless. She sat down on the bed, sulking.

"It's not fair; I did nothing wrong!"

* * *

Back outside, eight of the nine remaining teenagers had finally shown up. They noticed the mood was quiet.

"What's happening?" asked Palm-Palm.

"You may want to go in and have a look," said Strong Sad. Marzistar and Marzipan Jr. joined Homezipan and the others as they went inside, even Star Bad joined them.

* * *

The living room was a wreck inside; the couch was ripped badly, the painting had fallen onto the floor, the TV had been scratched, yet the screen was intact, and sitting on the couch was a sad-looking Marzipan holding what was left of her guitar Carol.

A couple of Carol's strings were in half, the neck was snapped, and the body was almost in splinters. The kids walked quietly and respectfully away into the kitchen, except Homezipan and the twins, who stayed behind.

The three sisters could see tears in their mother's eyes, and had never seen Marzipan cry in their lives, except when each set of twins was born.

"M-mom?" Homezipan asked quietly.

"I… I'm fine, Homezipan," Marzipan sniffled.

"You don't wook wike it…"

"There had been an argument Starzipan and I should've had years ago, and with the damages done by the mob… my guitar Carol…"

She couldn't contain herself and began crying again, her daughters came toward her, giving her a hug.

"I've had her since I was a little girl, and Carol and I were inseparable…"

"I'd know how you'd feew," agreed Homezipan.

Marzipan Jr. broke from the hug and noticed a VHS tape on the ground, relatively without any damage. Curious, she brought the tape over to a VHS player, which seemed to also survive, and inserted it in the player.

The TV was turned on, and displayed a younger Homestar and Marzipan in wedding clothes.

"Mommy, is this youw wedding tape?" asked Marzipan Jr.

Marzipan looked up, tears leaking in her eyes, and looked at the screen.

"Yes," she said quietly, "when your father and I married, I thought nothing, not even an argument over a little thing, could tear us apart. Even if we fight and argue, it still brought us closer than you can imagine. This tape is why we are still together to this day."

* * *

Upstairs, the other eight teens were observing the damage that had been done, ignoring Starzipan's pouting from inside.

"Ye know, I feel bad for this happenin'," said Ally.

"As do I," agreed Violet, "if only we had known the truth earlier…"

"I don't blame you," admitted Specs, "I didn't know much of you two either, so…"

"When things get back to normal," said Ally, "shall we let bygones be bygones?" She held out her hand, which Specs shook.

"I'd like that."

Then there came a noise from downstairs, which caught their attention. A few moments later, Homezipan came up followed by the twins.

"We'we getting an attack!" cried Homezipan, "Mom sent us upstairs to avoid capture!"

"We better go down and see what's up," suggested Milestone.

"Maybe _after_ a minute or two?" Palm-Palm suggested.

"Oh, yeah."

* * *

A couple of minutes passed, and the eleven kids found Marzipan was missing, along with Strong Sad, Homsar, Forlornelle, Miley, Champeen, and Homeschool.

"How is this possible?" gasped Specs. Then she saw four familiar faces show up.

"Guys, what's happened, and where's mother?" asked Homestar Jr.

"I think they've been captured by those loons," said Milestone.

"How?" asked Jack-Jack, "Didn't we stop them earlier?"

"We did," said Specs, "but how they followed us is anyone's guess."

"I can see it," said Helen, "they are being taken into Deep Claw's basement in the house next door!"

_Next door?_ exclaimed Pom-Pom.

"Must be a wucky guess," said Homestar, "but poow Mawzipan! What do they want with hew?!"

"Who's this guwl in white?" asked Homezipan.

"I am Helen Angelica," said the angel woman, "I am the town's spirit and soul; I can see what is happening and tell how others feel…"

"Spooky," muttered Violet quietly.

"So you're the one dad told me about," said Specs.

"That she is," said Shade, "and to answer your question, Homestar, we will face off Crawford and have him put behind bars!"

"Are you nuts?!" exclaimed Star Bad, "We'd be killed!"

"No we won't," said Monocle, "we stopped Deep Claw's minions once, and we can do it again!"

"Yeah!" said Palm-Palm, "We've outsmarted them…"

"We proved we're not pushovers," added Milestone.

"We shown guwls awen't weak," continued Homezipan.

"And we've even shown kids can do big things!" cheered Specs.

"You're right!" said Homestar Jr., "That's who we are – the kids of Free Country USA! Who's with me?!"

His statement was met with loud cheers!

* * *

"Henchmen! Let's see the goods!"

Homsar was brought in first, followed by Strong Sad, then Forlornelle, then Homeschool, then Champeen, then Miley, and lastly came…

"Marzipan!" exclaimed Deep Claw, "Long time, no see."

"Darren Crawford," Marzipan sneered, "you've done all this, didn't you?"

"Is that a way to treat an old friend?" the half-cyborg chuckled.

"You are not my friend!" Marzipan snapped, "You're a vile, disgusting, despicable creep! Even Strong Bad seems tolerable to be around with compared to you!"

"Thanks for that," Strong Bad called sarcastically.

Marzipan looked to find everyone else who had been captured chained to the walls.

"Why did you do this?"

"Simple; revenge."

"How?"

"Your so-called husband made me look a fool back at CGNU, and I have been waiting for nearly twenty years to accomplish it, and at long last, I have only just succeeded!"

"What do you want to do with us?"

"There are two choices; the easy way – you agree to marry me, and I let everyone free. The hard way – I will enslave you all and rule with an iron fist! It's your choice, Marzipan."

Marzipan stared daggers at Deep Claw, and then she spat on his face, much to everyone's shock.

"Big mistake," sneered Blade.

"Fine… have it your way!"

Deep Claw then commanded his henchmen to begin the Enslavement Project. Mad Hatt and Shov unchained Strong Bad to use him as a test subject.

"I'm free! Now let me go!"

"Not yet, Strong Bad," Deep Claw smirked, "you _will_ go when you complete your re-education!"

"Re-education?! You can't do this to me!"

"Oh, yes I can!"

Strong Bad fought back best as he could as he was led to a chair with wires connected to it. As they neared it, Strong Bad punched out Mad Hatt and before he could attack Shov, Steel Man grabbed him by the head, and placed him on the chair, and then Blade clamped down his wrists and ankles.

"Not my brother!" cried Strong Sad, "Take me instead!"

"Strong Sad… trying to save me?!" gasped Strong Bad.

"Initiate Re-education… NOW!"

"Not so fast, Crawford!"

Deep Claw looked, and looked to the door; there was Shade, along with Homestar, Pom-Pom, and the ten teens, all looking at him with angry looks.

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Will the battle end with the teens winning, or will Deep Claw succeed with his revenge? Chapter 10 will reveal the resolution! The story might end up with 11 chapters instead of 10. And I may also do an epilogue.**


	11. Chapter 10: You're the One, Homestar Jr

**Only just finished it up yesterday, along with the eleventh chapter! See you there.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: You're the One, Homestar Jr.!**

"Shade! I never expected to see you again. Long time, no see."

"Of course it has; thirteen years, to be precise," Shade gave Deep Claw an angry stare, "and in my absence, you ruined an already perfect family! You abused my youngest daughter, cloned her, sent away my oldest, and caused my wife emotional distress!"

Deep Claw went silent; his minions didn't move, the citizens – captured or not – stared in shock. It was so quiet, one could even hear a mouse squeak or a pin drop.

"Yes… I did…" he muttered quietly.

"Can you say it again?" asked Homestar.

"YES! I DID IT! I DID IT ALL!" Deep Claw yelled in anger and rage, "Out of vengeance and jealously, I scared off Shade and took Specs, Monocle and Oriana as my family! I created Blade with Specs' DNA, and I sent of Monocle!"

"And all this time," Specs shouted, getting angry, "my life had been a lie, all because of _you,_ Crawford!"

"Look at yourself!" agreed Homestar Jr., "Jealously turned you into who you are today!"

"It did not!"

"It did too! If you couldn't have my mother or a family, then nobody else could!"

"You'we a wiar and a buwwy!" added Homezipan, just about as angry as Homestar Jr. and Specs, "Even I know it's wwong to howd on to angew wike that!"

Deep Claw and his minions just stared, and then broke out in laughter.

"You kids always try to be serious, it's cute," Blade mocked.

"Why so serious, little babies?" Steel Man jeered.

They kept on laughing, until without warning, Deep Claw felt someone punch him on the right side of his face – hard. It was a shock when the attacker turned out to be…

"Marzipan?!"

"Mother?!" "Mom?!"

"Mrs. Runner?!"

"Don't you _dare_ mock my children like _that!_" Marzipan yelled furiously. All that anger built up inside, and she took it all out on Deep Claw, rubbing his face ruefully.

"More to my cousins' words," added Milestone, "Deep Claw also sent Blade to get Starzipan to frame Specs for vandalizing the town!"

"That's right! They did!" agreed Palm-Palm.

The captured citizens who had yet to know the truth all glared at Blade and Deep Claw.

"So all this time," snapped Baddette, "we believed in a stupid lie?!"

"Shut up!" snarled Blade, and tried to shift the blame to her "sister", even if she knew the truth "Specs is the villain here! Blame it on her!"

That had been the last straw for everyone; Strong Mad got angrier and angrier; so angry, in fact, he bust his and The Cheat's cage open!

"**RAAAAAAAHHH!**"

_All right, big guy!_ The Cheat squeaked, _Now to free everyone!_

"Stop them!" shouted Deep Claw, and he ran to the door, followed by Blade.

"No, you don't!" cried Homestar Jr., and chased after them, followed by Specs, Homezipan, Monocle, Shade, Milestone and Palm-Palm.

"What awe you doing?!" gasped Homezipan.

"You'll get killed!" cried Palm-Palm.

"People of Free Country USA," declared Homeschool, "Darren Crawford has wreaked havoc on our town, attacked innocent people, and now he's gone to declare war on this house! Shall we allow it?!"

This was met with angry shouts, and as they were freed, they began to lunge at Crawford's minions. A huge battle had just begun against the minions and the citizens in the Crawford-Hordern residence!

* * *

"Catch us if you can, dork boy!" Blade taunted.

"When I do, you'll wish you'd never come here at all!"

"Can't you stop?!" cried Milestone, "This is certain death!"

"And let them take over?! Never!"

* * *

The downstairs battle went from the basement to the first floor rooms and even the outdoors!

Strong Bad, Baddette, Strong Mad and The Cheat were confronted by Steel Man.

"Time to die, little men!" the Russian henchman snarled.

"Not if we got a big buy on our side!" Strong Bad proclaimed.

"**TIME FOR ACTION!**" Strong Mad yelled, and flexing his muscles, he and Steel Man faced off one another. Strong Mad was, well, strong and mad, but Steel Man seemed to be a match for his strength.

"Try to outsmart them!" Violet called, as she, Ally, Bubs, Buzz, Coach Z and Rosemary were battling Mad Hatt and Bubba.

"Nice try!" snapped Bubba, now in a fist fight against Bubs and Coach Z, "Not falling for that again!"

Strong Bad and Baddette gave Steel Man a kick to the knee each, and The Cheat bit Steel Man's bottom. All attacks gave the Russian henchman great pain, and a chance for Strong Mad to finish him off with a "mannonball".

"**MANNONBALL!**"

Strong Mad took the shape of sphere, and landed right on top of Steel Man, sending him about two feet deep in the ground, knocking him unconscious, and causing a small earthquake around everyone.

"Woah!" cried Strong Bad, "I think it worked a little too well, big guy."

_But at least the rest have the advantage,_ squeaked The Cheat.

The sudden earthquake had caused both houses to shake, but not enough to cause real damage.

* * *

Up above, Deep Claw and Blade had successfully managed to get to the top of the roof, despite the earthquake, and were shortly followed afterward by Homestar Jr. coming up on the rooftop.

"Your reign of terror ends today!" declared Homestar Jr.

"Not likely," Deep Claw sneered, "today, Homestar Jr., your town will die out, and I shall rule all!"

"We shall see – I challenge you to a fight!"

"A fight, eh?" Blade smirked.

"Yes; myself against Crawford!"

"Hmm… a challenge of a fight against Marzipan's son… Is there a downside to this?"

"Well?"

"All right! I accept your challenge!"

Whilst Crawford had been pondering, Shade showed up on the roof with Specs, Monocle, Homezipan, Palm-Palm, and Milestone.

"Homestaw Juniow, don't do this!" begged Homezipan, "You'ww die!"

"It's now or never," said Homestar Jr., turning to his friends.

"What's he doing?" snapped Deep Claw.

"Last goodbyes, I suspect," hissed Blade, "just make it quick, will you?!"

"If I don't face him off, then our town's doomed for eternity. I'd want you to know, Homezipan, Miles and Palm-Palm… you've been the best friends I could've ever asked for. And Specs and Monocle… if I don't make it out alive, just remember me as a brave, selfless person who had been willing to risk his life for his friends…"

"But… if you die…" gasped Specs, running up to Homestar Jr., "I just want to say…" She couldn't contain herself any longer. "I… _I love you, Homestar Jr.!_"

Homestar Jr. gasped in shock; around him, the world seemed to freeze and felt cold air blowing in his face. Even the fight down below didn't faze him. Many thoughts went into him, flashbacks replaying in his memory.

"_Hello there. I'm Homestar Jr. You're Shelley, I presume…" "Yep, that's me, but many people actually call me Specs…"_

"_But seriously, yes I would like some help; you're very kind…"_

"_You… would show me around?" "Sure, I mean, it would be impolite of me if I didn't…"_

"_Wow, you must live in a big house!" "It's not a penthouse or a manor, but it's home nonetheless…"_

"_Who's your girlfriend?" "Girlfriend?!" "We've just met a few days ago…"_

"_People say that on a clear night, and sometimes a full moon, it's a very romantic setting…" "Wow…"_

"_If I know Specs, she's one of the sweetest most innocent girls I know…"_

"You… love me?" asked Homestar Jr., snapping back to reality.

"I do," said Specs, "since we met, you've always believed in me, you've stood by my side when I was accused, and you've been caring for my safety. There's no other boy in the world that compares to you…" she added, almost crying.

"I've held feelings for you as well," Homestar Jr. admitted, "most girls prefer to talk about fashion and boys, but you… you're something else too. You're shy, you're smart, and you're very passionate; you almost remind me of my mother."

"I do?" asked Specs.

"That's what my father thought when he fell in love with mother, as did his father, and their fathers; we've all fallen for girls that remind us of our mothers. So all I've left to say is…"

"Just get on with it!" snapped Blade. The others scowled and Homestar Jr. continued.

"I love you too, Specs…"

Specs' face went red, but before her lips could even touch Homestar Jr.…

"Are you done yet?!" snapped Deep Claw, tapping his foot impatiently.

"You better go," said Specs, and Homestar Jr. stood in front of Deep Claw, preparing for what could be the final battle.

* * *

Down below, Deep Claw's minions were being overpowered one by one. Steel Man was duct-taped to a nearby tree, as were Mad Hatt, Bubba, X, Shov, and The Animal. All that remained was Stringier, who was clutching onto the roof, and dangling Marzipan in the air!

"Put me down!" shouted Marzipan, "Or you will be sorry!"

"Shut it, you!" snapped Stringier, "If you won't come to Deep Claw, I'll take you there myself!"

Up where the rooftop battle took place, Homezipan could barely see Stringier in view, and could just make out her mother's voice.

"Dad!" Homezipan called as she ran towards to the edge, avoiding the fight between Deep Claw and her brother, and the sais thrown by Blade.

Homestar heard his daughter's call, and ran up to where Marzipan was dangling. Homezipan stamped her foot on Stringier's arm, causing him to yell in pain and drop Marzipan, who landed on Homestar.

"Oh, thank you, Homestar!" she cried happily, and kissed his face.

"Don't fowget me!" called Homezipan.

"And you too, Homezipan!"

"You'we wewcome," both Homezipan and Homestar replied.

Stringier fell to the ground, only to get caught by Champeen, and tied up as well. Now everyone was watching the battle occur on the rooftop. The question was… who would emerge victorious?

* * *

Despite Homestar Jr.'s best, he was beginning to struggle as Deep Claw was stronger, bigger, and more powerful than he was. Homestar Jr. had lost his hat, his clothes were getting torn, and the corner of his mouth had a bit of blood he wasn't bothered about.

"Give it up, Runner!" the villain snarled, "This town will be mine!"

"Heroes don't quit!" snapped Homestar Jr., "You might defeat me, but good always triumphs over evil!"

"Bold words," sneered Deep Claw, "too bad they'll never be true for you!"

He gave Homestar Jr. a hard punch to the stomach, and then whacked him in the face with his left hand, resulting in a black eye injury. Homestar Jr. fell back, panting heavily.

"No!" gasped Milestone, Palm-Palm, Homezipan, Specs, and Monocle together.

"This can't be…" panted Shade, digging into his pocket.

"It's over, Homestar Jr.!" Deep Claw yelled, "_TIME TO DIE!_"

He raised his right arm, and the tips of his hand formed sharp claws. Before he could lunge at Homestar Jr., there came a yellow blinding flash.

"What the crap?!" gasped Strong Bad.

"What's that?" asked Homeschool.

"It's a lady!" exclaimed Miley.

The lady was Helen Angelica, and then there came a blue flash of light which aimed right at Specs' chest! What came out of her mouth was a ruby red flashing orb. The orb began to take the shape of a woman in her late thirties with blond hair, a red school teacher dress and brown shoes.

"Who is that?" gasped Rosemary.

"Oriana," exclaimed Shade, "my dear wife…"

Oriana and Shade walked toward each other and hugged.

"Mother…" gasped Specs and Monocle together.

"What is this magic?!" shouted Deep Claw.

"The magic that stops evil from hurting good, innocent people!" declared Helen Angelica, "And now, Darren Crawford," she said, producing a white orb in her hands, "you will pay for your crimes by being stuck in this orb for eternity!"

"NOOOOOOO…!" Deep Claw tried to escape, but he couldn't as he was sucked into the orb right in front of everybody.

"_You haven't heard the last of me!_" Deep Claw's voice said from the orb, "_One of these days, I'll have my vengeance…!_"

It said no more, as it disappeared in a flash.

"All this time, mother," gasped Specs, "you've been with me?"

"In a sense, yes, Specs," said Oriana kindly, "and how much you and Monocle have grown. I did this because I cared and loved you."

"We love you too," smiled Specs, and she and Monocle hugged their resurrected mother.

"What about Homestar Jr.?" asked Monocle.

"Oh!" Specs broke away and went to see her wounded lover.

* * *

Homestar Jr. was coughing and in a bad state; his shirt now had blood stains on it, and looked more dead than alive. Palm-Palm, Homezipan and Milestone were trying to help him back up.

Ally, Violet, Jack-Jack, Star Bad, Homestar and Marzipan went upstairs to see how Homestar Jr. was doing, and gasped at the sight of him.

"Homestar Jr.… why did this have to happen?" asked Specs, looking upset.

Homestar Jr. coughed again before speaking. "Sometimes, boys do crazy things to impress girls… or in my case, protect them because they care…"

Monocle, Shade and Oriana walked over to the wounded teenager and got down on their knees.

"Ms. Hordern…" Homestar Jr. gasped weakly, "take my place… here in our… town…"

"No!" cried Marzipan running over to her son, and leaning down to speak to him, "Your father and I are not losing you now. You'll be okay…"

"I… feel like I should never have come at all," Specs nearly sobbed.

"Maybe…" gasped Homestar Jr., "I think this is the better scenario…" He was struggling to breathe, and coughed again. The others felt they knew what it meant.

"No!" By this point, Specs was in tears. "Don't give out on me… I love you, Homestar Jr.! No one can ever compare with you!"

Specs kissed the slowly dying boy on his lips, which lasted a few seconds. As their lips parted, something magical happened.

Everyone stepped back as Homestar Jr. was lifted into the air a few feet, a glow of pink surrounding him. His bruises faded away to white skin, his blood stains healed, and even his clothes mended themselves!

Nobody knew what to say; how was this possible?

As the pink glow died away, Homestar Jr. stood on his feet, and opened his eyes.

"What just happened?" he said quietly.

"Homestar Jr.!" gasped Specs, "You're alive!"

"Specs!" The two ran towards one another and hugged. Homestar Jr. was so happy he lifted Specs off her feet and spun her round in a circle.

"How is this possible?!" Milestone gasped excitedly.

"It was the power of love that brought him back to life," said Helen, "it's always love that conquers all that fights against it. In this case, love has helped to bring Homestar Jr. back from the brink of death."

"Thank you," Homestar Jr. smiled quietly, "I'll always be grateful for that."

* * *

The Hordern family, the Runner family, and the others walked out the front door to a chorus of cheers.

"Well done, cous!" Miley yelled in excitement, "Ya won them over again!"

"How'd he come out in one porce?" asked Coach Z.

"And how'd he survive such blows?" asked Bubs.

"I think the world's got strange ways," said Rosemary, before secretly giving Helen a wink.

"W-will I be re-accepted by everyone?" asked Specs nervously.

"I speak for all of us," said the King of Town, "Specs Hordern, you are pardoned from being sent to the dungeon, and instead," he turned to Deep Claw's minions, "you lot shall be imprisoned for twenty years for crimes against humanity! Blade shall serve fifteen years, but where is she?"

Nobody wondered where Blade had gone off to.

"She's vanished," said Monocle, "as if, without a trace or something."

"If she _ever_ returns," said the King, "we'll be ready."

"I'd like to give that freak a piece of my mind!" said Strong Bad.

"Don't bother," said Specs, "I don't think she's worth it."

Then everyone looked and saw the Queen of Town show up with a plate of chicken fricassee.

"So there you are!" she gasped, "I've been looking for people for the past twenty-four hours! You wouldn't believe how empty the town was!"

Everyone looked at each other, and then some broke out in laughter while the King chowed down on his overdue lunch.

"What's so funny?" the Queen asked, puzzled.

"It's a long story," said Marzipan.

* * *

The celebrations were only eleven days away, and everyone worked hard to fix up the town and celebration grounds, with the help of their new friends, Shade, Oriana and Monocle Hordern. When repairs were done, they would be the official next door neighbors to the Runner family, much to Homestar Jr.'s delight.

Starzipan was sent away on a plane to Stark Hawk, Canada on July 15, and the Runner family hoped when she came back, Starzipan would be a better-behaved girl.

"Sewves hew wite if you ask me," said Homezipan to her brother.

"Hopefully they'll shape her up and make her a better person," he agreed.

* * *

Much of the interior of the Runner house was repaired good as new, even the backyard and garden were improved.

But even so, just a few days before the celebrations, Marzipan was still upset over Carol's destruction. So Specs told her that she had a surprise for her.

"What is it?" Marzipan asked, her eyes closed.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," Specs grinned, "now don't open your eyes just yet!"

She then lifted a long wooden thing with strings and wrapped the band around Marzipan's neck.

"Can I open my eyes?"

"All right… now open up!"

Marzipan did so, and looked down in surprise; it was Carol! She had been completely restored to her former glory.

"You fixed her?!" Marzipan gasped in surprise.

"Since I have some experience in fixing musical instruments," said Specs, "fixing a guitar like Carol was a bit of a breeze."

"I… I don't know how to thank you!" smiled Marzipan.

"I guess being proven innocent is enough a reward for me," smiled Specs.

"Hey, mom," said Homezipan, "have you wwitten that song yet?"

Marzipan looked at her daughter with a wry smile. "Oh, wait and see…"


	12. Chapter 11: Love is All You Need

**So here we are! The final chapter of "The Kids of Free Country USA"! I've cranked up the "chapters for a novel" number up to 11! Let me know what you thought of the story on whole!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Love is All You Need**

July 24, 2010. It was officially the day of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Free Country USA's founding. Everyone was excited and keen to get ready for the big day.

Anyone who wore clothing was dressed fancy, and those who didn't wore a bow tie or dress. Even Trivia Time and Dijjery-Doo were groomed.

Everyone stood behind a wooden stage with two poles propped up, with a large white banner saying "HAPPY 150TH FCUSA!" in blue and red. Up on stage were a blue and white drum kit with the words "COOL TAPES" painted on the bass drum, a jet black Hofner Icon bass, a set of black keyboards, and Carol.

The Queen of Town stood behind a podium.

"Ladies, gentlemen, children and animals," she began, "two weeks ago, our sesquicentennial celebrations had nearly been derailed by some villainous hooligans who wanted to wreak havoc on our cheerful, innocent town and blame innocent people.

"However, with the efforts of one boy and his friends, they've saved our town from being destroyed and pulled together to stop those evil forces. There's a few areas that do need some repair work done, but by the end of summer, things will be back the way they were!"

This was met with a loud applause. The Queen motioned her hand for silence before continuing.

"And here are the people we should thank for their brave efforts… Homestar and Marzipan Runner…"

The crowd cheered as the terrific athlete and his hippie wife walked up onto the stage, and the Queen put medals around their necks. They'd have shaken her hand, if they had any.

"Next, there's Pom-Pom and Palm-Palm Pom…"

Both Poms bounced on stage, each accepting his medal and shook the Queen's hand.

"Then we have Homeschool, Champeen, and their son Milestone Winner…"

More cheering as the Winner branch of the Runner family accepted their medals. They sat down next to the Poms and Runners.

"Fourth, we have the Horderns; Shade, Oriana, and their daughters Specs and Moncole…"

Shade, his wife and daughters each shook the Queen's hand and accepted their respective medals. They sat next to the Runners.

"Next, we have Know-it-Ally, Violet Blue, Jack-Jack Concession Stand, and Star Bad…"

Each of the young teenagers, as you guessed, shook the Queen's hand and accepted their respective medals.

"Then, there is Ms. Homezipan Runner…"

Homezipan skipped eagerly as the Queen wrapped the medal around her neck.

"Thank you," Homezipan said excitedly, "I've nevew got a medaw befowe…!" She sat next to her parents.

"And lastly, there's a very special medal to the one whose destiny was to save Free Country USA. The real true hero of our town… Mr. Homestar Runner Jr.!"

There was a loud applause as Homestar Jr. walked up on stage.

"'Twas nothin', really," Homestar Jr. said bashfully.

"It was," said Milestone, "you accomplished your destiny in saving the town."

"And not on your own," added Palm-Palm.

"Thanks, guys," Homestar Jr. smiled, and sat between Homezipan and Specs.

"Also we give our gratitude to Helen Angelica, for helping us when we needed her the most."

The magic girl floated up to the stage and shook the Queen's hand.

"Thank you, your Majesty," Helen smiled, "and to the entire town; if you need help, then you know whom to call," she added with a wink, "so I shall see you when in your need of help!"

And with that, she disappeared in a cloud of sparkles, to a round of applause.

"Now, people," said the Queen, "every year, we have this tradition of a song being performed. This year, it is Marzipan Runner with the Cool Tapes, Strong Mad and The Cheat, with guest keyboardist, Homeschool Winner!"

The crowd cheered as Marzipan picked up Carol, Homeschool got to his keyboards, Strong Mad walked up on stage (which didn't collapse) and picked up his bass, and The Cheat skipped to the stage, got to his drum kit, and picked up his drumsticks.

"All right," said Marzipan, speaking into the microphone, "this is a song about the one who had this dream to save the town – yes, my son, Homestar Jr.!"

The audience cheered, was encouraged to sing "Everybody! Everybody!" along with the song, and then with a guitar solo, picked up by bass, keyboards and drums, the song began, sung by Marzipan;

"_We don't want that wimpy mouse  
__We don't want a lame bunny  
__We want our favorite white dude  
__Cause we think he's smart and funny!  
__Keep away the spitting cat  
__Keep away that stupid duck  
__Give us our Homestar Junior  
__He's our hero, whom we are stuck!_

"_By the end of a hard day  
__He can take our pain away  
__He can heal a broken heart  
__And we'll never be apart  
__Homestar Jr., I don't know where we'd be without you!"__  
_

"_Everybody! Everybody! Everybody! Everybody!"_

"_Star Bad is a Mexican wrestler's son  
__Specs is Homestar Junior's girlfriend  
__Ally and Violet, the foreign girls  
__And Palm-Palm bounces to no end  
__Jack-Jack, she's the funny one  
__Milestone tries his best not to cause strife  
__Homezipan is a sweet cute girl  
__Monocle's now got a new life__  
_

"_By the end of a hard day  
__He can take our pain away  
__He can heal a broken heart  
__And we'll never be apart  
__Homestar Jr., I don't know where we'd be without you!"_

"_Everybody! Everybody! Everybody! Everybody!"_

"_Home... star... run! Go!  
__Home... star... run! Go!_

"Yeah! Thank you!" With that guitar riff, the song ended, met with a huge applause.

"I'd like to say 'thank you' and behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope that we passed the audition!" said Marzipan. This was followed by several groups of chuckles and laughs.

* * *

Several hours went by, and the celebrations had been a huge success. It was now almost time for the fireworks display. Homestar Jr. was with his friends close by the buffet table.

"We've nearly died, but it was worth it in the end," said Milestone.

"Kind of scary if you think about it," said Palm-Palm.

"I don't even want to think about it," agreed Violet.

"My parents are proud of me," Star Bad bragged, "I got a medal for them! They're a step closer to having the most awards of any citizen in the world!"

"Thewe, we goes, bwagging again," sighed Homezipan, "wite, Homestaw Juniow?"

But Homestar Jr. didn't answer; he noticed Specs was walking off in the distance. Wanting to find out why, he followed behind her.

"What's with Specs?" asked Jack-Jack.

"And where is he off to?" asked Ally.

"I think I can guess where," said Monocle, "it's best we don't disturb them."

* * *

Specs arrived at the stone bridge. She shuddered at the fateful day Crawford and Blade nearly killed her and Homestar Jr., but was relieved they wouldn't return to terrorize the town. In Blade's case, Specs _hoped_ she wouldn't return.

"We've been through so much," Specs told herself, "and through all this, I've survived."

"We all survived," said a voice.

Specs jumped and saw who had spoken behind her.

"Sorry," said Homestar Jr., "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to know what you were up to."

"Just felt like stretching my legs a bit," Specs shrugged, "do you remember from two weeks earlier, we were at the bridge?"

"Yes, I did," said Homestar Jr., "I said that when there is a clear night, with an occasional full moon, it is a romantic setting for young couples."

"You did," agreed Specs, "and, erm, since we've admitted our feelings to one another the day I nearly lost you forever…"

"Don't remind me…" Homestar Jr. shuddered at the thought.

"…yes, but does it mean… _we're_ a couple…?"

"Erm…"

"I've started to like you… more than just a friend."

"I've felt that way as well."

Specs made a quick double-take. "You do?"

"Yes; I just needed time to consider it. I would like to start a relationship with you… Specs."

Specs gave a big smile, and for the first time, as they stood on the stone bridge, the newly-formed young couple kissed, as the first fireworks launched into the air, lighting up the night sky.

"At long last, they've fallen in love," said Marzipan, observing with Homestar, Shade, and Oriana.

"It's such a beautiful sight; my little girl's becoming a woman," said Oriana, shedding a tear.

"They've got many more challenges ahead of them," said Shade.

"Does it mean they'we gonna get mawwied one of these days?" asked Homestar. The other three shushed him as the young coupled stared into each others' eyes. For Homestar Runner Jr. and Shelley Millicent "Specs" Hordern, this was only just the beginning.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make…

**THE END****... FOR NOW**

* * *

**And now we've come to our happy ending! I've decided to upload both this and chapter 10 at once, y'know, to get it done with. If you didn't notice, there are three Beatles references in there; I'll give you a virtual cookie if you can guess them.**

**And so, I can finally get my lazy butt into starting up "Tales of a Teenage Boy" and "Young and Old (All The Things She Said)", the latter is Homezipan's and Monocle's side of the former.**

**So for future stories, besides my Homestar fan-series, I do plan to upload more stories for my Railway Series Evolution collection, continue with my human Thomas series and "North Western Engines, Long Ago", as well as doing the occasional one-shot humor story, and I've also planned on doing Homestar Runner versions of Thomas the Tank Engine stories, both from TV series and the books.**

**Keep watching this space for more!**


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